Please sign up as a member or login to view and search this journal.
Table of Contents
2024 F.U.N. Activities
$10 Series 1933A Silver Certificate Sheet - Lee Lofthus & Peter Huntoon
Glass-Borah Amendment Notes - Peter Huntoon
A Failed Partnership - Roberto Menchaca
Tuscaloosa's Taliaferro F. Samuel - Bill Gunther
William T. Sherman - Confederate Spy - Tony Chibbaro
Lumbermans National Bank - Charter #8241 - Michael Saharian
A Numismatic Stroll Through New Orleans - Steve Feller
LaGrange, Ohio Postal Notes - Bob Laub
UNESCO Argentina - Roland Rollins
official journal of
The Society of Paper Money Collectors
James Wade & a Series 1933A
$10 Silver Certificate sheet
America?s Oldest and Most Accomplished Rare Coin Auctioneer
1550 Scenic Ave., Suite 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 ? 949.253.0916
470 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022 ? 212.582.2580 ? NYC@stacksbowers.com
84 State St. (at 22 Merchants Row), Boston, MA 02109 ? 617.843.8343 ? Boston@StacksBowers.com
1735 Market St. (18th & JFK Blvd.), Philadelphia, PA 19103 ? 267.609.1804 ? Philly@StacksBowers.com
Info@StacksBowers.com ? StacksBowers.com
California ? New York ? Boston ? Philadelphia ? New Hampshire ? Oklahoma ? Virginia
Hong Kong ? Paris ? Vancouver
SBG PM Spring24 HLs 240301
LEGENDARY COLLECTIONS | LEGENDARY RESULTS | A LEGENDARY AUCTION FIRM
Featured Highlights from the
STACK?S BOWERS GALLERIES
Spring 2024 U.S. Currency Showcase Auction
Auction: March 25-28 & April 1-3, 2024 ? Costa Mesa, CA ? Expo Lot Viewing: March 19-22, 2024 ? Baltimore, MD
Fr. 19. 1874 $1 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 EPQ.
Fr. 43. 1874 $2 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ.
Fr. 76. 1880 $5 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ.
Fr. 99. 1878 $10 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Choice Uncirculated 64.
Fr. 120. 1901 $10 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ.
Fr. 122. 1901 $10 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ.
Fr. 127. 1869 $20 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45 EPQ.
Fr. 279. 1899 $5 Silver Certificate.
PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ.
Fr. 377. 1890 $100 Treasury Note.
PCGS Banknote About Uncirculated 50 Details.
Minor Restorations, Minor Design Redrawn.
Fr. 1132-D. 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note.
Cleveland. PMG Choice Very Fine 35.
Fr. 1220. 1922 $1000 Gold Certificate.
PMG Very Fine 30.
Fr. 1506H. 1928E $2 Legal Tender Star Note.
PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ.
Fr. 2221-G. 1934 $5000 Federal Reserve Note.
Chicago. PMG Choice Very Fine 35.
Fr. 2201-Adgs. 1934 Dark Green Seal
$500 Federal Reserve Note. Boston.
PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ.
Contact Our Experts for More Information Today!
Peter A. Treglia
Director of Currency
PTreglia@StacksBowers.com
Tel: (949) 748-4828
Michael Moczalla
Currency Specialist
MMoczalla@StacksBowers.com
Tel: (949) 503-6244
a_oM_om
W?????&??????????? ??? ^???????
?????????>????d?????????????????K???????D?????
32%R[6DQ$QWRQLR7;SLHUUHIULFNH#EX\YLQWDJHPRQH\FRPZZZEX\YLQWDJHPRQH\FRP
$QGPDQ\PRUH&6$8QLRQDQG2EVROHWH%DQN1RWHV IRU VDOH UDQJLQJ IURPWRILYHILJXUHV
78 2024 SPMC F.U.N. Activities
80 $10 Series 1933a Silver Certificate Sheet--Lee Lofthus & Peter Huntoon
103 Glass-Borah Amendment Notes--Peter Huntoon
109 A Failed Partnership--Roberto Menchaca
114 Tuscaloosa's Taliaferro F. Samuel--Bill Gunther
120 William T. Smithson-Confederate Spy--Tony Chibbaro
124 Lumbermans National Bank-Charter #8241--Michael Saharian
126 A Numismatic Stroll in New Orleans--Steve Feller
146 UNESCO-Argentina--Roland Rollins
140 LaGrange, Ohio Postal Notes--Bob Laub
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
73
Columns
Advertisers
SPMC Hall of Fame
The SPMC Hall of Fame recognizes and honors those individuals who
have made a lasting contribution to the society over the span of many years.?
Charles Affleck
Walter Allan
Mark Anderson
Doug Ball
Hank BieciukJoseph BolingF.C.C. Boyd
Michael Crabb
Forrest DanielMartin DelgerWilliam DonlonRoger Durand
C. John Ferreri
Milt Friedberg
Robert Friedberg
Len Glazer
Nathan Gold
Nathan Goldstein
James Haxby
John Herzog
Gene Hessler
John Hickman
William Higgins
Ruth Hill
Peter Huntoon
Brent Hughes
Glenn Jackson
Don Kelly
Lyn Knight
Chet Krause
Allen Mincho
Clifford Mishler
Barbara Mueller
Judith Murphy
Dean Oakes
Chuck O'Donnell
Roy Pennell
Albert Pick
Fred Reed
Matt Rothert
John Rowe III
From Your President
Editor Sez
New Members
Uncoupled
Chump Change
Cherry Picker Corner
Obsolete Corner
Small Notes
Quartermaster
Robert Vandevender 75
Benny Bolin 76
Frank Clark 77
Joe Boling & Fred Schwan 133
Loren Gatch 139
Robert Calderman 142
Robert Gill 144
Jamie Yakes 148
Michael McNeil 150
IFC
73
102
108
113
131
Stacks Bowers Galleries
Pierre Fricke
Whatnot
Lyn Knight
Higgins Museum
Greysheet
FCCB 131
Fred Bart 131
William Litt 131
Bob Laub 131
PCGS-C 132
World Banknote Auctions 138
PCDA 153
Heritage Auctions OBC
Fred Schwan
Neil Shafer
Herb& Martha Schingoethe
Hugh Shull
Glenn Smedley
Raphael Thian
Daniel Valentine
Louis Van Belkum
George Wait
D.C. Wismer
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
74
Officers & Appointees
ELECTED OFFICERS
PRESIDENT Robert Vandevender II
rvpaperman@aol.com
VICE-PRES/SEC'Y Robert Calderman
gacoins@earthlink.net
TREASURER Robert Moon
robertmoon@aol.com
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
APPOINTEES
PUBLISHER-EDITOR ADVERTISING MGR
Benny Bolin smcbb@sbcglobal.net
Megan Reginnitter mreginnitter@iowafirm.com
LIBRARIAN
Jeff Brueggeman
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR
Frank Clark frank_clark@yahoo.com
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Shawn Hewitt
WISMER BOOk PROJECT COORDINATOR
Pierre Fricke
From Your President
Robert Vandevender II
2IILFHUV $SSRLQWHHV
(/(&7('2)),&(56
35(6,'(17?6KDZQ+HZLWW
VKDZQ#VKDZQKHZLWWFRP
9,&(35(6,'(17?
5 EHUW9DQGHYHQGHU,,
UYSDSHUPDQ#DROFRP
6(&5(7$55REHUW&DOGHUPDQ
JDFRLQV#HDUWKOLQNQHW
75($685(5?%RE0RRQ
UREHUWPRRQ#DROFRP
%2$5'2)*29(51256
0DUN$QGHUVRQPEDPED#DROFRP
5REHUW&DOGHUPDQJDFRLQV#HDUOWKOLQNQHW
*DU\-'REELQVJGREELQV#VEFJOREDOQHW
0DWW'UDLV6WRFNSLFNHU#DROFRP
3LHUUH)ULFNH
SLHUUHIULFNH#EX\YLQWDJHPRQH\FRP
/RUHQ*DWFKOJDWFK#XFRHGX
6WHYH-HQQLQJVVMHQQLQJV#MLVSQHW
:LOOLDP/LWW?%LOOOLWW#DROFRP
-)UHG0DSOHVPDSOHVI#FRPFDVWQHW
&RG\5HJHQQLWWHU
FRG\UHJHQQLWWHU#JPDLOFRP
:HQGHOO$:RONDSXUGXHQXW#DROFRP
$332,17((6
38%/,6+(5(',725
%HQQ\%ROLQVPFEE#VEFJOREDOQHW
$'9(57,6,1*0$1$*(5
:HQGHOO$:ROND
/(*$/&2816(/
/,%5$5,$1-HII%UXHJJHPDQ
MHII#DFWLRQFXUUHQF\FRP
0(0%(56+,3',5(&725
)UDQN&ODUNIUDQNBVSPF#\DKRRFRP
,00(',$7(3$6735(6,'(173LHUUH)ULFNH
:,60(5%22.352-(&7
&225',1$7253LHUUH)ULFNH
From Your President
Shawn Hewitt
:H?UHH[FLWHGWRDQQRXQFHWKHGHWDLOVRIRXUVHFRQGDQQXDO
)ORULGD 8QLWHG 1XPLVPDWLVWV )81 6SHDNHUV )RUXP ,Q WKH IDVKLRQ RI RXU
LQDXJXUDO VHPLQDU ODVW \HDU ZH?OO DJDLQ KDYH D WRWDO RI ILYH VSHDNHUV PDNLQJ
SUHVHQWDWLRQVDQGFORVHRXW WKHIRUXPZLWKRXU630&PHPEHUVKLSPHHWLQJRQ
6DWXUGD\PRUQLQJ
7KH GDWHV RI WKH )81 FRQYHQWLRQ DUH -DQXDU\ DW WKH 2UDQJH
&RXQW\&RQYHQWLRQ&HQWHU:HVW%XLOGLQJ:$ :$LQ2UODQGR)ORULGD7KH
ILUVWIRXUWDONVDUHRQ)ULGD\-DQXDU\LQ5RRP)VDPHDVODVW\HDU
+HUHLVWKHOLQHXS?DP5REHUW&DOGHUPDQ7KH&XUUHQW
6WDWXVRIWKH866PDOO6L]H3DSHU0RQH\0DUNHW?0U&DOGHUPDQD
VSHFLDOLVWDQGGHDOHULQ86VPDOOVL]HW\SHQRWHVZLOOGLVFXVVWKHFXUUHQW
WUHQGVLQVPDOOVL]HQRWHVDQGWKHIXWXUHRIWKLVSDSHUPRQH\VSHFLDOW\
DP'XVWLQ-RKQVWRQ$%HKLQGWKH6FHQHV/RRNDWWKH3DSHU
0RQH\$XFWLRQ3URFHVV?0U -RKQVWRQ WKH 9LFH3UHVLGHQWDQG0DQDJLQJ
'LUHFWRURIWKH&XUUHQF\'LYLVLRQDW+HULWDJH$XFWLRQVZLOOGLVFXVVWKHQXWV
DQGEROWVRIFRQGXFWLQJDPDMRU3DSHU0RQH\DXFWLRQ
DP (GXFDWLRQDO 6HPLQDU $Q2YHUYLHZ RIWKH
&RQIHGHUDWH3DSHU0RQH\0DUNHWE\3LHUUH )ULFNH
0U)ULFNHKDVEHHQDORQJWLPHGHDOHULQ&RQIHGHUDWH3DSHU0RQH\DQGLVWKH
DXWKRURIWKHVWDQGDUGUHIHUHQFHRQ&RQIHGHUDWH3DSHU0RQH\ &ROOHFWLQJ
&RQIHGHUDWH3DSHU0RQH\7KH6WDQGDUG*XLGHWR&RQIHGHUDWH0RQH\
DP :HQGHOO :ROND 7KH JRRG WKH EDG DQG WKH XJO\ RI
DQWHEHOOXPEDQNQRWHIUDXG?9DULRXVW\SHVRISUH&LYLO:DUEDQNQRWHIUDXG
ZLOOEHH[SORUHGDQGLOOXVWUDWHG
,Q DGGLWLRQ DW WKH 630& 0HPEHUVKLS 0HHWLQJ RSHQ WR DOO RQ
6DWXUGD\DWDPLQ5RRP%ZHKDYH0DUN'UHQJVRQ2YHUYLHZ
RIWKH630&%DQN1RWH+LVWRU\3URMHFW7KLVSURMHFWLVIRFXVHGRQWZRRI
WKHSULPDU\KLVWRULFDODVSHFWVRIWKH+RPHWRZQ1DWLRQDO%DQN1RWHVWKH
%DQNVZKRLVVXHGWKHPDQGWKHEDQNHUVZKRVLJQHGWKHP
,WKLQNZH?UHRQWRDJRRGWKLQJLQPDNLQJ)81DQRWKHUPDMRUYHQXHIRU
WKHIDFHRI630&2XUWDEOHZLOOEHLQWKHFOXEVHFWLRQRIWKHERXUVHIORRU
VRSOHDVHVWRSE\$JDLQWKLV\HDUZHDUHSDUWLFLSDWLQJLQWKH$1$7UHDVXUH
7ULYLD3URJUDPZKLFKLVDJUHDWRXWUHDFKWRWKH\RXWKRIRXUKREE\:HKDYH
VRPHYHU\QLFHZRUOGQRWHVWRKDQGRXWWR\RXQJQXPLVPDWLVWVDVVRXYHQLUV
IRUYLVLWLQJRXUWDEOH
%HIRUH,JR,VKRXOGPHQWLRQWKDWZHKDYHDQHZ0HPEHUVKLS6HFUHWDU\
5REHUW&DOGHUPDQRQHRIRXUERDUGPHPEHUVKDVVWHSSHGXSWRILOOWKHSRVLWLRQ
UHFHQWO\YDFDWHGE\-HII%UXHJJHPDQ ,I\RX IUHTXHQW WKHPDMRUVKRZV\RX
PD\KDYHVHHQ5REHUWDWRQHRIRXUFOXEWDEOHV5REHUWLVJUHDWUHVRXUFHIRUWKH
6RFLHW\DQGZHYHU\PXFKDSSUHFLDWHWKHZRUNKHGRHVIRUXV
Paper Money * July/August 2020
6
jeff@actioncurrency.com
LEGAL COUNSEL
Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.com
Matt Drais stockpicker12@aol.com
Mark Drengson markd@step1software.com
Pierre Fricke pierrefricke@buyvingagecurrency.com
Loren Gatch lgatch@uco.edu
Derek Higgins derekhiggins219@gmail.com
Raiden Honaker raidenhonaker8@gmail.com
William Litt billitt@aol.com
Cody Regennitt
Andy Timmerm
Wendell Wolka purduenut@aol.com
er cody.regennitter@gmail.com
an andrew.timmerman@aol.com
This year, the FUN Show during the first week of January was a big success.
On Thursday evening, we celebrated our new inductees into the SPMC Hall of
Fame, and treated attending new member Mark Anderson to a nice dinner at
the Rodizio Grill Brazilian Steakhouse. On Friday morning, we held our
annual board of Governors meeting and voted to conduct our next annual event
at the January 2025 FUN Show. Governor Pierre Fricke provided a nice talk
on Confederate currency during our membership meeting, and it was well
received. Our Saturday morning annual breakfast and raffle was well attended.
Our new HOF member, Mark Anderson, was very surprised when he arrived at
the door for entry and found that his portrait was used on this year?s breakfast
ticket. As usual, Wendell Wolka did a great job conducting the raffle and
several nice prizes were awarded. Many thanks to everyone who provided
generous donations. Everyone seemed to have a fun time.
In February, SPMC member Nancy Purington and I staffed the SPMC table
at the Long Beach Show. Many of our members were in attendance, either as
dealers, or just members walking the floor. Our member, Frederick B. Benson
stopped by the table and provided some great detailed information about his
grandfather, Charles Frederick Bell who was the cashier, and banknote signer
for the First National Bank of Houtzdale, PA bank, Charter 6695. Governor
Mark Drengson immediately updated our U.S. National Bank Lookup database
with the new information. We are always glad when our members help to
contribute to the ongoing research.
This March, Governor Derek Higgins, and his wife and SPMC member
Jessica will be staffing our SPMC table at the ANAs National Money Show in
Colorado Springs, CO. If you are attending, please stop by the table and say
hello.
In April, Nancy and I plan to travel to Indiana for a family visit and to
witness the total solar eclipse. This will be our second total eclipse. In 2017,
we witnessed the last one easily available to see in Santee, SC. If you have
never seen a total eclipse, I highly recommend it. Even if you have previously
witnessed a 90+ percent event, it doesn?t count. This will be a totally different
experience. This eclipse crosses much of the United States so it is a good time
to participate. Get your special glasses needed for viewing early.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
75
Terms?and?Conditions?
The?Society? of? Paper?Money? Collectors? (SPMC)? P.O.?? Box?7055,?
Gainesville,?GA??? 30504,?publishes??? PAPER??? MONEY?(USPS?? 00?
3162)? every? other? month? beginning? in? January.? Periodical?
postage? is? paid? at? Hanover,? PA.? Postmaster? send? address?
changes? to? Secretary? Robert? Calderman,? Box? 7055,?Gainesville,?
GA? 30504.??Society? of? Paper?Money? Collectors,?Inc.? 2020.? All?
rights? reserved.? Reproduction? of? any? article? in?whole? or? part?
without?written?approval? is?prohibited.? Individual?copies?of? this?
issue?of?PAPER?MONEY?are?available? from?the?secretary? for?$8?
postpaid.?Send?changes?of?address,?inquiries?concerning??? non??? ????
delivery??? and??? requests??? for??? additional?copies?of?this?issue?to?
the?secretary.?
MANUSCRIPTS?
Manuscripts?????not?????under??????consideration??????elsewhere?and?
publications? for? review?should?be?sent? to? the?editor.?Accepted?
manuscripts? will? be? published? as? soon? as? possible,? however?
publication? in? a? specific? issue? cannot? be?guaranteed.?Opinions?
expressed? by? authors? do? not?necessarily? reflect?those? of? the?
SPMC.???Manuscripts?should?be? submitted? in?WORD? format? via?
email?(smcbb@sbcglobal.net)? or? by? sending?memory?stick/disk?
to? the? editor.? Scans? should? be? grayscale? or? color? JPEGs? at?
300?dpi.?Color? illustrations?may?be?changed?to?grayscale?at? the?
discretion? of? the? editor.? Do? not? send? items? of? value.?
Manuscripts?are? submitted?with?copyright?release?of?the?author?
to? the? editor? for? duplication? and? printing?as?needed.?
ADVERTISING?
All?advertising?on?space?available?basis.?Copy/correspondence?
should?be?sent?to?editor.?
All?advertising?is?pay?in?advance.??Ads?are?on?a??good?faith??
basis.? Terms?are??Until?Forbid.??
Ads? are? Run? of? Press? (ROP)? unless? accepted? on? a? premium?
contract?basis.?Limited?premium?space/rates?available.?
To?keep?rates?to?a?minimum,?all?advertising?must?be?prepaid?
according?to?the?schedule?below.??In?exceptional?cases?where?
special? artwork? or? additional? production? is? required,? the?
advertiser? will?be?notified? and? billed?accordingly.? Rates? are?
not?commissionable;?proofs?are?not? supplied.? SPMC? does?not?
endorse?any?company,?dealer,? or? auction? house.? Advertising?
Deadline:?Subject?to?space?availability,?copy?must?be?received?
by? the? editor? no? later? than? the? first? day? of? the? month?
preceding? the? cover?date? of? the? issue? (i.e.? Feb.? 1? for? the?
March/April? issue).?Camera?ready?art?or?electronic?ads? in?pdf?
format?are?required.?
ADVERTISING?RATES?
Editor Sez
Benny Bolin
Required?file??? submission?format??? is??? composite??? PDF?v1.3?
(Acrobat?4.0???compatible).???If???possible,?submitted?files?should?
conform?to?ISO?15930?1:?2001?PDF/X?1a?file?format?standard.?
Non?? standard,? application,? or? native? file? formats? are? not?
acceptable.?Page? size:?must? conform?to?specified?publication?
trim? size.? Page? bleed:? must? extend?minimum? 1/8?? beyond?
trim?for?page?head,?foot,?and?front.? Safety?margin:? type? and?
other? non?bleed? content?must? clear? trim?by?minimum?1/2?.??
Advertising?c o p y ? shall?be?restricted?to?paper?currency,?allied?
numismatic?material,?publications,???and???related???accessories.???
The?SPMC? does? not? guarantee?advertisements,? but? accepts?
copy? in?good?faith,? reserving? the?right? to? reject?objectionable?
or? inappropriate? material? or? edit? ? ? copy.? The? ? ? ? ? SPMC??
assumes????? no????? financial?????? responsibility?for? typographical?
errors? in? ads? but? agrees? to? reprint? that?portion?of?an?ad? in?
which?a?typographical?error?occurs.?
Benny
Space?
Full?color?covers?
1?Time?
$1500?
3?Times?
$2600?
6?Times
$4900
B&W?covers? 500? 1400? 2500
Full?page?color? 500? 1500? 3000
Full?page?B&W? 360? 1000? 1800
Half?page?B&W? 180? 500? 900
Quarter?page?B&W? 90? 250? 450
Eighth?page?B&W? 45? 125? 225
August '24-I'm gonna be a first time grandpa!!
Once again the SPMC had a very successful FUN. Pierre gave a
wonderful program on confederate notes at our general membership
meeting. The board met and decided to keep FUN as our annual
meeting so we will see you all again at FUN '25! As usual, our
breakfast and Tom Bain raffle were a success, the breakfast being a
CV surgeons delight (For convention fare, it was actually a good
spread. I was at the front table when our guest of honor, Hall-of-Fame
inductee Mark Anderson arrived and saw that the ticket had his
picture on it. Awards for service and literary excellence were given
out. I was very honored to receive a literary award with my good
friend Jerry Fochtman (more later) as well as being surprised with the
SPMC Founders award celebrating my ten years as editor of PM. It
has been a great run and I enjoy almost all of it and hope for 20. Then,
the fun began at FUN '24. Musk was there and yelled "mix 'em up"
and so began the raffle handled ever so eloquently by our ever-
expressive and magniloquent emcee--Wendell Wolka. Mystery
boxes, books, checks and notes (variable desirability) were "won."
It was great fun and Wendell ended it on time so all could join
the bourse when it openened. Make plans now to join us January
9-12, 2024 for FUN!
On a sad and somber note, my good friend and fractional currency
enthusiast and current SPMC governor, Jerry Fochtman passed away
February 16. He was one of the last of my good buddies passionate
about my little postage stamps (fractional currency), having lost Milt
Friedberg, Doug Hales and Howard Cohen already. He was truly a
passionate collector, but even more than a collector, was his
exhibiting and researching abilities. He and I placed exhibits at the
Texas Numismatic Association show FUN and IPMS yearly and they
were always well-thought out and well researched, truly educational
exhibits. We had recently collaborated on an article that won a first-
place SPMC literary award this year. Besides that, Jerry had a passion
about his family (he told me all the details about a recent Disney
cruise with his wife, kids and grandkids. He was also an Eagle Scout
and helped them as often as he could. One thing we also had in
common was we both took large High School bands (him Kingwood
and me Allen) to the Rose Parade. I will certainly miss Jerry, talking
to him and working with him. My and the SPMC's condolences go out
to his wife Donna and his whole family.
I hope your travels over spring break are for fun and that you are
safe. In your downtime, write ma a little article (or a large one).
Remember that this journal is yours and it will make you immortal (at
least remembered after you are gone.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
76
The Society of Paper Money
Collectors was organized in 1961 and
incorporated in 1964 as a non-profit
organization under the laws of the
District of Columbia. It is
affiliated with the ANA. The
Annual Meeting of the SPMC is
held in June at the International
Paper Money Show. Information
about the SPMC, including the
by-laws and activities can be
found at our website--
www.spmc.org. The SPMC does
not does not endorse any dealer,
company or auction house.
MEMBERSHIP?REGULAR and
LIFE. Applicants must be at least 18
years of age and of good moral
character. Members of the ANA or
other recognized numismatic
societies are eligible for membership.
Other applicants should be sponsored
by an SPMC member or provide
suitable references.
MEMBERSHIP?JUNIOR.
Applicants for Junior membership
must be from 12 to 17 years of age
and of good moral character. A parent
or guardian must sign their
application. Junior membership
numbers will be preceded by the letter
?j? which will be removed upon
notification to the secretary that the
member has reached 18 years of age.
Junior members are not eligible to
hold office or vote.
DUES?Annual dues are $39. Dues
for members in Canada and Mexico
are $45. Dues for members in all
other countries are $60. Life
membership?payable in installments
within one year is $800 for U.S.; $900
for Canada and Mexico and $1000
for all other countries. The Society
no longer issues annual membership
cards but paid up members may
request one from the membership
director with an SASE.
Memberships for all members who
joined the Society prior to January
2010 are on a calendar year basis
with renewals due each December.
Memberships for those who joined
since January 2010 are on an annual
basis beginning and ending the
month joined. All renewals are due
before the expiration date, which can
be found on the label of Paper
Money. Renewals may be done via
the Society website www.spmc.org
or by check/money order sent to the
secretary.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS!
BY FRANK CLARK
SPMC MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR
NEW MEMBERS 1/05/2024 NEW MEMBERS 2/05/2024
Dues Remittal Process
Send dues directly to
Robert Moon
SPMC Treasurer
104 Chipping Ct
Greenwood, SC 29649
Refer to your mailing label for when
your dues are due.
You may also pay your dues online at
www.spmc.org.
REINSTATEMENTS
None
LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
LM470 Thomas Zang, Website
15658 Moore Gouldman III, Frank Clark
15659 Mike Nash, Website
15660 Bob Vallone, Robert Calderman
15661 Tyler Hippeli, Website
15662 Gregory Helentjaris, Website
15663 Ricky Lanham, Website
15664 Grady Holt, Sr., Website
15665 Joseph Ferranto, Website
15666 Peter Longini, Website
15667 Robert Cornelison, Website
15668 Lovely Frias Manjares, Website
15669 Chris Jones, Website
15670 Mike Marcil, Website
15671 Dale Walton, Website
15672 Grant Michaud, Facebook Group
15673 Calvin Lindsey/Cal's Coins, Rbt V.
15674 Carolina Mendez, Rbt Vandevender
15675 Arthur Patrick, Robert Vandevender
15676 Tim Witucky, Robert Vandevender
15677 Justin Merszei, Gary Dobbins
15678 Bob Fairbrook, Website
15679 Tom Howard, Frank Clark
15680 Keith Palevsky, Robert Gill
15681 William Isemann, Website
15682 Phillip Kersey, Website
15683 Jon Hanna, Website
REINSTATEMENTS
14329 Richard Laster, Gary Dobbins
LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
LM471 Jim Phraner, Tom Conklin
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
77
F.U.N. 2024
The SPMC held its? annual meeting and awards festivities at FUN ?24 in Orlando. We had a board meeting, a general
membership meeting with a presentation by Pierre Fricke on Confederate Currency and our annual breakfast and Tom
Bain raffle where we presented our annual awards.
2023 Awards
Nathan Gold Award?Peter Huntoon. For outstanding achievement and long-term service to the SPMC. For his
long-time service to our Society by conducting extensive research and providing a constant flow of article to Paper
Money. His first article was in Coin World in 1966 and August of 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of The Paper
Column between its launch in the BNR and migration to Paper Money magazine.
Founders Award?Benny Bolin. For outstanding achievement during the past year. Celebrating 10 years as editor
of Paper Money.
President?s Award?Mark de Jeu. Presented by the President to the person(s) deemed to have provided service to
the SPMC in the year worthy of recognition. Given for his continuing efforts to support the Bank Note Project
with website programming.
Nathan Goldstein Award?Robert Calderman. For recruitment of the most new members into the SPMC.
Education, Research and Outreach Award?Loren Gatch. For significant contributions to the SPMC's emphasis
and activities related to education, research and outreach. Given for his efforts supporting communication with the
weekly email distribution of SPMC News & Notes and his work obtaining over 3000 photos in support of our Banks
& Bankers Database.
Forrest Daniel Literary Award?Charles Derby & William Gunther. Given in recognition of literary
achievements related to paper money and associated topics. Author(s) of over 40 articles, both together and as lone
author appearing in Paper Money. Also co-authored book on Alabama Obsolete notes.
Wismer Award?Nicholas Bruyer. Given to the author of the book deemed favorite book published during the
year. U. S. Treasury Notes 1812-1865.
First Place Literary Awards?Lee Lofthus, Benny Bolin & Jerry Fochtman, Tony Chibbaro, Steve Feller.
Favorite Column?Cherry Pickers Corner?Robert Calderman
Stephen R. Taylor Best-in-Show Exhibit Award?Mack Martin
2023 Inductees into the SPMC Hall-of-Fame?Mark Anderson, Forrest Daniel and Brent Hughes
Mark Anderson
has served the
society selflessly
for many years.
A collector of
Spanish Civil
War notes among
a myriad of other areas, his
exhibit of Swedish Plate Money
won the SPMC Best-in-show
award at the IPMS in Memphis in
2017. He has served as governor,
president and treasurer among
other committees. He was
awarded the Nathan Gold award
in 2015 and many other SPMC
awards for his efforts.
Forrest Daniel
was a founding
member of the
SPMC, member
number 121.
Along with
Brent Hughes,
he designed the SPMC logo
unveiled on August 18, 1972. He
served as SPMC governor from
1970-1976 and served on many
committees. He was awarded the
Nathan Gold award in 1993, the
George W. Wait award in
2002 and the Award of Merit in
1983 and 2000.
'Mr. Confederate' as
he was known by
many was SPMC
founding member #7.
He, along with
Forrest Daniel
designed the SPMC logo that was
unveiled on August 18, 1972. He
served as SPMC governor from
1969-1974 and was awarded two
Awards of merit in 1974 and 2000,
three literary awards and the Nathan
Gold award in 1997.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
78
2024 Awards breakfast and Tom Bain Raffle
Mark Anderson is inducted into the SPMC
Hall-of-Fame
Mark showing breakfast
ticket with his likeness on it
A total shock to me?winning the
Founders Award
Robert Calderman receives the
Nathan Goldstein Recruitment Award
Mark de Jeu receives the
President?s Award
Mack Martin receives the
Best-in-Show Exhibit Award
Grumpy old men greeting entrants A full house for breakfast and the raffle
Musk gives the thumbs up to
?mix ?em up? & start the raffle
A table full of raffle prizes & mystery boxes Bill Litt shows off a
national raffle prize Clifford Mishler ?wins? a mystery box
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
79
Lee Lofthus
Peter Huntoon
Evidence for the Issuance of a
$10 Series of 1933A Silver Certificate Sheet
This is the story of how one sheet of $10 Series of 1933A silver certificates appears to have
been issued through the most serendipitous convergence of circumstances in 1934. This tale for
U.S, paper money is the equal to the release of the 1933 double eagle coins, except everything
about the release of the 1933As was above board.
We are going to tell this story in the way it unfolded for us. Along the way we will bring in
the stories of the existence of sheets for two of the classic small-size U.S. currency rarities, namely
the $1 Series of 1928E and $10 Series of 1933 silver certificates. Definitive articles profiling these
rarities are listed in the sources; specifically, for $1 1928E Huntoon, Yakes, and Lofthus (2016)
and Lofthus (2018), and for $10 1933 Lofthus (2013, 2014, 2023) and Russell, Lofthus and
Huntoon (2023).
An Odd Series of 1928 Legal Tender Sheet
The tale begins with a peculiar wrinkle associated with the issuance of the Series of 1928
$1 legal tender notes, a short-lived early classic small-size type note that is one of the most exotic
and popular of our country?s small-size $1 issues (Yakes, 2013).
The $1 Series of 1928 legal tender notes were printed in 1933 with deliveries to the U.S.
Treasurer from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing inclusive of April 26-May 5, 1933. The total
delivered was 1,872,000 notes (BEP, 1933, table 5).
However, one additional sheet was delivered in 1934 (BEP, 1934, table 5). Obviously, this
represented some exceptional situation yielding a total printing of 1,872,012 notes that was carried
forward in subsequent BEP records. The 12 in that number stuck out like a sore thumb and caused
ongoing agitation for Huntoon.
Years ago, after seeing the 12-note remnant, Huntoon went to the plate history ledgers in
the National Archives to determine when a 1928 $1 LT plate was pulled to print the sheet. He
found no record of use of any of those plates beyond 1933 (BEP, misc. dates-a). Clearly, this meant
the sheet delivered in 1934 was numbered from a residual stock of unnumbered sheets left over
from the 1933 printings. This made the occurrence even more unusual.
Huntoon brought the situation to Lofthus? attention more than a decade ago with the request
that he keep his eyes peeled for anything pertaining to this lone sheet as he mined Treasury records
in the National Archives. Of course, Huntoon and Lofthus were hungry for an explanation.
Lee retired from his position as chief financial officer at the U.S. Department of Justice in
June of 2022. His retirement allowed him to ramp up the frequency of his visits to the National
Archives to pursue his paper money research. He was at the Archives on December 29, 2023, as
the year was drawing to a close, taking advantage of the slim researcher attendance to have a quiet
and productive visit. On that visit, he was scouring the master record location index for the U.S.
Treasurer?s office when he came upon an entry titled ?Records of the General Accounts Division,
Record of United States Paper Currency Received 1925-1934.? That entry jumped out. Maybe it
held the mystery of the $1 LT sheet! The Archives was closing, so he scheduled his next visit for
January 2.
The Archives had a small attendance again on January 2 so Lee was able to quickly access
the receipts ledger (Treasurer, 1929-1934). It was a treasure trove showing the daily deliveries for
each class and denomination of U.S. currency covering the right period. Turning to the small-size
legal tender pages for the Series of 1928 legal tenders, he came to April 1934 entries for the $1s.
Below a one-line total for deliveries for prior years, to his delight there was a lone entry for 12
notes received on April 2, 1934?the very sheet we were after. See Figure 1
Now that we had a date, it would focus the pursuit, maybe even lead to whom the sheet
was made. Where to next? Years previously Lee had found files pertaining to uncut sheets in
Bureau of the Public Debt files and Huntoon had found similar records in the Central
Correspondence files of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Both required a second look. Lee
hadn?t been in the BEP files so Huntoon provided him with the locator information for 1934 that
consisted of 14 boxes of fairly well-organized file folders.
On Thursday, January 4, Lee began to cull through the Bureau of Public Debt files as well
as some Treasury Department correspondence but came up empty. It was back to the Archives the
next day to pursue the BEP correspondence files. He quickly leafed through the well-organized
material, most of which was nitty-gritty routine administrative stuff. He arrived at the third to the
last box inauspiciously labeled ?Audit Spoil Rpt THRU Waste Paper.? In that box was an untitled
folder containing a two-inch-thick wad of correspondence, most of it dog-eared inquiries from the
public (Figure 2).
Both Lofthus and Huntoon have run into
those files before. They are dominated by letters
from people asking why a note they received in
change has stars in front of the serial numbers or
asking if some large $1 is any good that has a big
eagle with spread wings on the front that they found
in their grandmother?s dresser and if so, how much
is it worth?
When those inquiries arrive, someone at
Treasury has to answer them, and, in this particular
file, they were bound youngest on top using a metal
fastener run through two holes punched at the top of
each letter. Usually, this is the type of unfruitful file
we bypass or only quickly scan if we have time to
Figure 1. Treasurer?s receipt ledger showing the receipt of a sheet of $1 Series of 1928 legal tender
notes on April 2, 1934 (Treasurer of the United States, 1929-1934).
Figure 2. Unassuming folder that
contained the key to the kingdom (BEP,
1934a).
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
81
kill. This batch was from 1934, so
Lee patiently thumbed through it
despite the small chance of it
containing anything worthwhile.
Bingo! About halfway
through he came upon a group of
papers pertaining to a request from
James M. Wade requesting sheets of
currency through a high-ranking
friend of his in the Treasury
Department. What Wade wanted was
a denomination set of current sheets
of Treasury currency bearing
Secretary of the Treasury William
Woodin?s signature.
The correspondence
consisted of drafts of the letters that
were sent to Wade by his friend
along with memos written by Bureau
of Engraving and Printing personnel
who were involved in handling or
executing his request (BEP, 1934a).
How this material ended up
in this file instead of a file of its own
is a mystery only the filer could
know. But here it was.
This wonderful lode included
a $1 legal tender sheet?not just any
$1 legal tender sheet?THE very last
legal tender sheet numbered in 1934
and delivered on April 2. That sheet
carried the signature of William
Woodin.
But that was just the tip of
the iceberg.
Who Was James M. Wade?
James Monroe Wade?born Union, NJ, December 18, 1887; died Union, NJ, November
1967?was a pioneering U.S. currency collector who assembled one of the great early collections.
His collection was offered for sale in a fixed price catalog by Aubery Bebee in 1956.
In 1934 Wade was 46 years old and an established assistant cashier at The Chase National
Bank of New York, a position he held from 1930 through 1942. From there, he moved on to become
president of the Union Center National Bank in Union, New Jersey (Brookes, 1948; Numismatist,
Aug. 1968).
Wade was vice president of the New Jersey Numismatic Society at the time he requested
the sheets from Treasury. For a period in the 1940?s he served as assistant treasurer of the American
Numismatic Association at the same time noted paper money collector and author George H. Blake
Figure 3. James Monroe Wade, 1887-1967. Photo from Bebee
(1956).
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
82
was ANA treasurer (Numismatist, Nov.
1942). Wade also was an active member in
the Jersey City Coin Club, New York
Numismatic Club and American Numismatic
Society (Brookes, 1948).
William Woodin, Secretary of the
Treasury at the start of Franklin D.
Roosevelt?s presidency in 1933, was a
serious coin collector whose renowned
collection was sold years earlier by Thomas
Elder. Woodin was a director of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York while Wade was
at the Chase National Bank. Bebee (1956)
wrote that Woodin, who knew Wade, had
Wade search through the large gold
shipments received by the bank for coins on
Woodin?s want list. Wade?s fond association
with Woodin instilled in him a strong desire
to acquire the Treasury currency signed by
Woodin once Woodin became secretary.
Bebee (1956) also pointed out that
Wade assisted (Fred) F.C.C. Boyd in
cataloging Col. Edward Green?s enormous
numismatic holding in 1937 and later helped
Boyd dispose of notes that were in it.
During his early career, Wade
developed a friendship with Stephen B. Gibbons, a New Yorker who became an Assistant Secretary
of the Treasury in the FDR Treasury Department. Gibbons held one of the three third-ranked
positions in the department where his portfolio encompassed the Coast Guard, Bureau of Customs,
and Bureau of Narcotics, all of which were Treasury units (Morgenthau, 1934). Thus, Gibbons
served as Wade?s contact in the Treasury Department.
The Unexpected
Wade sent a request to Gibbons on March 12, 1934, asking if it would be possible to obtain
essentially a denomination set of sheets of Treasury currency bearing Secretary Woodin?s
signature. His letter arrived just a little over three months after Woodin resigned from the
Secretaryship on December 31, 1933, as he battled throat cancer and less than two months before
he died on May 3.
The timing of Wade?s request couldn?t have arrived at a more auspicious moment. The
FDR Treasury was in the process of overhauling the nation?s currency system, consequently
dramatic changes were afoot (Huntoon, 2010). The existing Series of 1928 $1 and 1933 $10 silver
certificates were being replaced by a new 1934 series of $1, $5 and $10 notes, and $1 denomination
legal tender notes were being dropped entirely. In addition, Woodin?s signature as Secretary of the
Treasury was in the process of being replaced by that of Henry Morgenthau Jr.
Most significant in terms of this discussion is that the last of the short-lived $10 1933 series
of silver certificates that had been authorized by the Thomas Amendment to the Agricultural
Adjustment Act of May 12, 1933 were being phased out. Those notes were backed by silver that
the Treasury accepted from foreign governments?especially Great Britain?in payment against
Figure 4. Secretary of the Treasury William Woodin
and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Wikipedia
photo.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
83
their World War I debts (Morgenthau, 1933, p. 25-27). That silver was being folded into the general
silver stock of the Treasury where it would join the rest of the Treasury silver used as backing for
the new Series of 1934 silver certificates.
The phaseout of the $1 legal tender notes was a minor side show. In Spring 1933, the first
8,000 of them were issued to the Treasury Cash Room in Washington, DC, and some 2,800 were
pressed into circulation before the need for them was deemed counterproductive (Yakes, 2013).
The motivation for not circulating them in 1933 was to avoid the Congressionally mandated
necessity of sorting them from the voluminous workhorse silver certificates as worn notes were
withdrawn from circulation. The remainder sat unused until late 1948 and 1949 when they were
released in Puerto Rico where they could be largely contained. The intention was that going
forward from 1933, all $1 notes in circulation would be silver certificates.
Wade?s request letter of March 12 was not in the file that Lofthus found, but it is referenced
in Gibbons? reply of March 17. The following chain of five internal Treasury memos and Gibbons?
drafts of letters to Wade accurately conveys what transpired. We are letting these documents speak
for themselves. We have added a few clarifying notations that appear in square brackets. Photos of
these significant historical documents are reproduced at the end of this article for authentication
Figure 5. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. awards the distinguished flying cross for
a life-saving mission to Coast Guard aviator Lt. R.L. Burke on October 14, 1938. Left to right:
Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral R.R. Waesche, Lt. Burke, Secretary
Morgenthau, and Assistant Secretary of Treasury Stephen Gibbons. Library of Congress photo LCN
2016874144.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
84
purposes.
[The following internal Treasury memo reveals that Gibbons contacted the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing to determine what sheets were available to satisfy Wade?s March 12 request.]
1 Treasury Department
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Office of the Director
MEMORANDUM
March 16, 1934
For the Director:
Memo for letter to Mr. Wade.
We have never made $5 Silver Certificates, bearing facsimile signature of Mr. Woodin.
$1 U.S. note - Woods?Woodin.
$1 [Serie of 1928E] Silver Certificate is in circulation with Morgenthau and Julian signatures.
(A sheet of this is being held for Mr. Wade according to Mr. Gibbons? letter).
$2 Silver are not being made.
$2 and $5 U.S. with Morgenthau and Julian signatures are in plate process. However, none
have been printed.
We have in circulation $10 [Series of 1933] Silver with Julian and Woodin signatures and on
February 27, 1934, 2,000 sheets of $10 [Series of 1933A] Silver with Morgenthau and Julian
signatures were delivered to Treasurer.
No interruption to the sequence of numbers is made when signatures are changed.
[Jesse] J.E. Swigart
Assistant Director [Production]
2 Washington, D.C.
March 17, 1934
Mr. James Wade
Chase National Bank
New York City, New York
Dear Jim:
I have received your letter of March 12, and the note of the same date attached to it, both
referring to uncut sheets of United States paper money.
There have been no $5 Silver Certificates in the small size currency printed up to this time.
The model of the Silver Certificate in this denomination is now being prepared, and the signatures
of Mr. Morgenthau and Mr. Julian will appear on it. It will not be possible, therefore, to furnish
you with a $5 certificate bearing a facsimile of Mr. Woodin?s signature.
Only a small quantity of $1 United States notes [legal tender notes] was printed about a year
ago. These carry the signatures of Mr. Woodin and Mr. Woods, and no arrangements are being
made to make further issues of notes in this denomination.
The engraving of $2 and $5 Unites States notes, bearing the signatures of Mr. Morgenthau
and Mr. Julian is now under way. It will be several months before uncut sheets will be available.
Within the past month $1 [Series of 1928E] Silver Certificates, bearing the signatures of Mr.
Morgenthau and Mr. Julian, were issued by the Department. An uncut sheet will be sent to you
within the next few days.
You make no mention of the $10 [Series of 1933] Silver Certificate recently put into
circulation, bearing the signatures of Mr. Woodin and Mr. Julian as well as more recent [Series of
1933A] issue of this class of currency bearing the signatures of Mr. Morgenthau and Mr. Julian.
It will be a pleasure for me to arrange with the Treasurer of the United States to procure uncut
sheets from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing of all new issues, and see to it that you are
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
85
advised when they are ready for delivery so that arrangements can be made to deliver them to you.
If you are interested in procuring $1 United States notes, with the signatures of Mr. Woodin and
Mr. Woods, it might be possible to have the Bureau of Engraving and Printing print these up for
you [emphasis added].
Unless there is a change in the design of the note, a change in the signature does not interrupt
the sequence of numbering, so it will not be possible to accommodate you in respect to furnishing
uncut sheets with low numbers.
With best regards, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Letter prepared for Mr. Gibbons signature. [Initialed by Alvin Hall, BEP Director]
3 Treasury Department
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Office of the Director
MEMORANDUM
April 2, 1934
For the Director [Hall]:
Delivery is being made to the Treasurer of the U.S. of one unseparated sheet of [Series of
1933] $10 Silver Certificate with the signatures of Woodin and Julian, and one unseparated sheet
of [Series of 1933A] $10 Silver Certificates with signatures of Morgenthau and Julian. These
sheets are a part of a package of $10 Silver Certificates delivered today. There is also being
delivered one unseparated sheet of $1.00 US notes with signatures of Woodin and Woods.
[Jesse] J.E. Swigart
[Assistant Director, Production]
4 April 2, 1934
Memorandum for Mr. Julian:
A personal friend of mine, Mr. James Wade, of the Chase National Bank, New York, N.Y., is
anxious to procure uncut sheets of new issues of currency.
You have in your vault a sheet of $1.00 [Series of 1928E] Silver Certificates, bearing the
signatures of Mr. Morgenthau and yourself, which is being held for Mr. Wade. I am advised that
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is delivering to you today two uncut sheets of [Series 1933
and Series 1933A] $10 Silver Certificates and an uncut sheet of $1.00 United States notes. Mr.
Wade has been requested to send a check to you in the amount of $264.64 to cover the value of
these sheets, together with the cost of insuring and mailing them to him. Will you be good enough
to see that Mr. Wade gets these sheets.
Stephen Gibbons
[Assistant Secretary of the Treasury].
5 April 2, 1934
Mr. James Wade
Chase National Bank
115 Broadway,
New York, N.Y.
Dear Jim:
I have arranged with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to have delivered to the Treasurer
of the United States the unseparated sheets of currency mentioned in your letter of March 26. [This
letter is not in the file. We can infer that Wade replied to the March 17 letter from Gibbons and
affirmed his interest in obtaining not only the $1 1928 legal tender sheet but also the $10 silver
certificate sheets].
The Treasurer now has in his possession an unseparated sheet of $10 Silver Certificates,
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
86
bearing the signature of Mr. Woodin and Mr. Julian, and an unseparated sheet bearing the
signatures of Mr. Morgenthau and Mr. Julian, as well as an unseparated sheet of $1.00 United
States notes, bearing the signatures of Mr. Woodin and Mr. Woods, and an unseparated sheet of
$1.00 Silver Certificates, bearing the signatures of Mr. Morgenthau and Mr. Julian. The face value
of these four sheets is $264. It will cost $.64 to insure and mail the sheets to you.
If you will send your check to the Treasurer for $264.64, made payable to the Treasurer of
the United States, the sheets will be forwarded to you at once.
With best regards, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Stephen Gibbons
Asst. Sec. of the Treasury
Lofthus returned to the Archives January 8 to search for documents showing that the
Treasurer received Wade?s payment and/or shipped the sheets as well as possible correspondence
from Wade thanking Gibbons for the sheets. Nothing was found along these lines.
Technical Details
The foregoing documents reveal that there is no question that three sheets were especially
prepared for Wade: specifically, $1 LT Series of 1928, $10 SC 1933 and $10 SC 1933A. An
existing $1 SC 1928E sheet was also set aside for him.
There are two important factors that have to be considered in the accounting of these sheets.
All the notes on the sheets had to be accounted for by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as
being printed. The dollar value of all also had to be accounted for by denomination as being
received and issued by the Treasurer. But only the $1 Series of 1928 legal tender and $1 Series of
1928E silver certificate sheets are visible in the BEP?s and Treasurer?s official accountings.
$1 Legal Tender Series of 1928 sheet
The best documented is the $1 Series of 1928 LT that led us to these discoveries. That sheet
was a special make-up sheet numbered in 1934 on a residual sheet from an unnumbered stockpile
left over from the last regular delivery of those notes to the Treasurer in 1933. The BEP attached
great value to their intaglio work so it was standard practice to carry forward excess unnumbered
stock so that it could be consumed in the next order should that order come.
The only follow-up order was Wade?s sheet. This specially prepared sheet was delivered to
the Treasurer?s office on April 2, 1934, and the Treasurer?s receipt ledger for U.S. currency shows
the sheet as being officially received on that day (Treasurer, 1929-1934). It was a minor matter to
number the sheet in consecutive order and append it to the series total on both the BEP?s and
Treasurer?s books. Its 12 subjects bore serials A01872001A through A01872012A.
$1 Silver Certificate Series of 1928E sheet
The $1 Series of 1928E SC sheet was the easiest to provide. Twenty-five uncut sheets of
them were ordered by the Treasurer?s office (Julian, Feb 8, 1934), which arrived at the front of the
first delivery of 1928E notes in late February, two or three weeks before Wade?s request. They
carried serials F72000001B through F72000300B. Wade?s sheet was simply set aside for him from
this group that already was fully accounted for on both the BEP?s and Treasurer?s books. We have
no information on which sheet was provided to Wade.
$10 Silver Certificate Series of 1933 sheet
The facts surrounding the $10 1933 SC sheet are problematic. The April 2, 1934, memo
from BEP Assistant Director Swigart to Director Alvin Hall is unambiguous that a sheet was
delivered to fulfill Wade?s request. However, by April 2 numbering of the 1933 notes had ceased
at A00216000A and production of the 1933A notes already had commenced beginning with the
next serial number.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
87
$10 Series 1933 sheet A00000001A-A00000012A was delivered to the Treasurer?s office
on January 5, 1934, whereupon it was hand cut to provide low-numbered notes for dignitaries
(Lofthus, 2013). The remainder of that first shipment and the rest of the 1933s that followed
consisted of separated notes. The last of the 1933 notes arrived at the Treasurer?s office on February
27th in a shipment totaling 48,000 cut notes of which the last 24,000 consisted of the first of the
1933A notes bearing Morgenthau?s signature (Treasury, 1929-1934).
Unlike the $1 1928 legal tender sheet, it wasn?t possible to number a residual Series of
1933 sheet and simply append it consecutively to the last delivery of those notes because the Series
1933A notes began at serial A00216001A.
The 1934 annual report of the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing does not
list the delivery of Wade?s sheet or does it occur in the Treasurer?s receipt ledger. We speculate?
and we emphatically emphasize speculate?that a residual unnumbered Series of 1933 sheet may
have been numbered, possibly even with the last twelve serials in the Series of 1933 delivery
(A00215989A-A00216000A), the sheet was delivered to the Treasurer, and the cut notes with the
duplicated serials were retrieved and destroyed as if spoiled. Thus, no addition of the 12 notes was
necessary on the BEP?s books. The face value of the Series of 1933 notes on the Treasurer?s books,
both issued and unissued, remained the same, so the sheet was invisible on his books.
$10 Silver Certificate Series of 1933A sheet
The handling of the $10 Series of 1933A sheet is even more speculative than the 1933. The
fact is that it probably was a straightforward matter to obtain the sheet because Wade?s request was
processed while the Series of 1933A notes were in production. The conundrum is that there is no
record that any 1933A notes were issued.
Could it be that the 1933A sheet was substituted for 12 Series of 1933 notes in the
Treasurer?s office as was done with the 1933 sheet, making it invisible on the Treasurer?s books?
Then the twelve Series of 1933 notes the BEP retrieved from the Treasurer would be credited
against the 1933A mutilated account back at the BEP. The fact is, we?ll guess with you. Of course,
we have no idea what serial numbers appeared on the 1933A sheet.
PART 2
To this point, we have documented that a high-ranking Treasury Department official went
to great lengths to arrange the delivery of three unique uncut currency sheets to fulfill Wade?s
request plus a fourth that at the time was an available sheet of $1 Series of 1928E $1 silver
certificates from the routine printing of them at the beginning of that series. The unique sheets, of
course, were the $10 1933 and 1933A silver certificates and $1 1928 legal tender sheet
A01872001A-A01872012A.
So, did James M. Wade send his check to the U.S. Treasurer for $264.64 to receive them?
The Numismatist belatedly reported in its August 1968 issue that Wade had died and that
he had resigned his American Numismatic Association membership in 1963 due to poor health.
His friend Gibbons died from an accidental 5-story fall at his home in New York City on May 23,
1958 (NYT, May 24, 1958).
The four sheets profiled here were not in Bebee?s offering of Wade?s collection in 1956, so
if Wade did get them, he likely disposed of them by then. Thus, our knowledge of their existence
ceases in 1934 with the correspondence cited above.
Obviously, we have little doubt that Wade did get the four sheets, but without confirmation
we felt frustrated by lack of that detail. The story appeared to go cold.
One of two circumstantial findings could demonstrate, or at the least, bolster the
proposition that Wade did get the sheets. Obviously, it would be convincing if one or more of them
appeared in the numismatic market. Another possibility would be to determine if the sheets never
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
88
left the Treasurer?s office.
The stock of uncut sheets held by the Treasurer were stored in the cashier?s vault within
the Cash Room in the Treasury Building in Washington, DC. How could we get a peek into it to
see if the sheets were there or not after the supposed delivery to Wade?
Lofthus, in frustration, and without any other recourse available to him, returned to the
National Archives on January 24, 2024, to embark on a painstaking search through 1934 and
somewhat younger vintage correspondence files between the Secretary of the Treasury?s office and
other Treasury departments looking for anything that might help. The sheets went to the
Treasurer?s office so eventually Lee started plowing into the correspondence between the
Secretary?s and Treasurer?s office. The files for 1934 held nothing of interest. Nothing in 1935,
1936, 1937?this was getting very tedious. Then came the 1938 files.
Serendipity Strikes Again!
In another file containing public inquiries, Lee found a sheaf of documents pertaining to
another request for an uncut sheet. This hand-written request from D. Campbell of New Haven,
Connecticut, dated October 16, 1938, was for an uncut sheet of $1s. Assistant Treasurer Marion
Banister replied October 19th advising ?you are informed that there are no uncut sheets available
for distribution at this time.?
Fortunately for us, Campbell was not to be put off so easily. He next contacted Secretary
Morgenthau, and when that was unsuccessful, he wrote Senator Augustine Lonergan (D-Conn.)
requesting that he intercede on his behalf. This triggered a spate of invaluable correspondence and
memos that only a request from a Senator can launch within a federal agency.
Revelations started to flow. Senator Lonergan contacted Assistant to the Secretary Herbert
E. Gaston to determine what could done, adding that if silver certificates were difficult to procure,
?he would be just as pleased with a sheet of United States notes.? As for a sheet of United States
notes, Administrative Assistant to the Treasurer Michael Slindee advised Gaston ?There are no $1
United States notes being printed or issued at present, and no uncut sheets of such notes are
available.?
As for $1 silver certificates, Gaston was informed there were four sheets of Series 1935
$1s, but one was held for a member of Congress and the others held for special use with approval
from the Secretary. Gaston notified Lonergan on November 4th ?I appreciate your interest in the
matter but regret that there are no uncut sheets of any form of currency available which could be
sent to Mr. Campbell.?
That ended the matter with Campbell, but here is where it gets really good. When Gaston?s
letter to Lonergan was shown that day to Slindee, Slindee realized that Gaston misunderstood what
sheets were available and did not want to risk Gaston unintentionally misinforming a member of
the Senate. Slindee then contacted head cashier Harry Hulbirt at the Cash Room to obtain a
complete inventory of the sheets that were on hand. Slindee then called Gaston to clear the matter,
and Gaston had his secretary take notes as the call unfolded. Gaston documented the call with this
memo:
November 4, 1938
MEMORANDUM FOR THE FILES
By ? Mr. Gaston
Mr. Slindee corrected this memorandum [referring to Gaston?s November 4 reply to Senator
Longergan] by telephone with the following information: There are in the vault four uncut sheets
of Series 1928 D and one of 1928 E, one of Series 1934, in addition to the four sheets of the 1935
Series of $1.00 silver certificates. There are also two sheets of $5.00 [silver] certificates, Series
1934, a sheet of $10.00 [silver] certificates of Series 1934, and one sheet of $2.00 United States
Notes, Series 1928. These are being reserved for special occasions.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
89
Figure 6. Wade?s $1 Series of 1928 legal tender sheet carrying the last serial numbers for the type
appeared in the March 4, 2019, Stack?s-Bowers sale. Stack?s-Bowers photo.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
90
This memorandum and the November 3 Slindee memo are reproduced at the end of
this article for authentication purposes.
Critical for our tale is that Wade?s 1928 LT $1 and 1933 and 1933A SC $10 sheets were
not there. Wade had received them.
Lightning Strike in March 2019
Lofthus was highly energized by his 1938 Campbell document discovery. He then set upon
a search of numismatic auction records to be certain we had not missed any of Wade?s three unique
sheets. That search focused on the $1 LT 1928 sheet because there was no chance either of us
would have missed a $10 SC 1933 or 1933A sheet going by in the past.
There it was: $1 Series 1928 legal tender sheet A01872001A-A01872012A offered as Lot
9386 in the March 2019 Stack?s-Bowers Spring auction, correctly attributed as the last $1 LT sheet
printed with the highest serials for the type. See Figure 6.
Existence
The huge news in all of this is that we now have evidence that one sheet of 12 $10 Series
of 1933A silver certificates escaped the Treasury.
In contrast, the available Treasury accounting reports don?t list any Series 1933A notes as
being issued. Similarly, the destruction reports indicate that all the Series of 1933A notes were
destroyed along with the last of the Series of 1933 notes (Lofthus, 2013).
Acknowledgments
Mark Drengson, curator of the Society of Paper Money Collectors Bank and Banker Data
Base, compiled certain bibliographic details provided herein for Jame M. Wade from original
sources. Peter Treglia, Director of Currency at Stack?s-Bowers Galleries, provided the scan of the
$1 Series of 1928 sheet illustrated in Figure 6.
Sources
Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, P.L. No. 73-10, 48 stat. 31. 73rd U.S. Congress, 1st Session.
Bebee, Aubrey E., Mar 1956, The celebrated James M. Wade collection of U.S. paper money (fixed price sale catalog):
Bebee?s, Omaha, NE, 43 p.
Brookes, Emily Larson, Sep 28, 1948, Numismatic personalities, James M. Wade of Union, New Jersey: p. 870-872.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 1933, Annual report of the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, fiscal
year ended June 30, 1933: BEP Historical Resource Center, Washington, DC, 35 p. plus 11 tables.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 1934, Annual report of the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, fiscal
year ended June 30, 1934: BEP Historical Resource Center, Washington, DC, 89 p. including tables.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 1934a, Central Correspondence Files: Record Group 318, entry A1-12, box 217,
unlabeled bound file, (318/450/79/14/06 box 217), U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD.
Annotated contents:
1. Swigart, Jesse E., Assistant Director, Production, BEP, memorandum to Alvin W. Hall, Director, BEP, March
16, 1934 advice of current and planned Treasury currency production.
2. Gibbons, Stephen B., Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury, March 17, 1934 draft of letter to James
M. Wade advising him of potentially available U.S. Treasury currency sheets.
3. Swigart, Jesse E., Assistant Director, Production, BEP, memorandum to Alvin W. Hall, Director, BEP, April
2, 1934 advice of delivery to the Treasurer?s office of $1 1928 legal tender, $10 Series 1933, and $10 Series
1933A sheets.
4. Gibbons, Stephen B, Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury, April 2, 1934 memorandum to William
A. Julian, U.S. Treasurer advice that four sheets of Treasury currency have been delivered to Julian?s office
earmarked for James M. Wade?$1 1928 legal tender, $1 Series 1928E, $10 Series 1933, $10 Series 1933A?
for which Wade will remit $264 face plus 0.64 postage.
5. Gibbons, Stephen B, Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury, April 2, 1934 draft of letter to James
M. Wade, advising Wade that four sheets are held for him at the U.S. Treasurer?s office and to remit $264.64
payable to the Treasurer of the United States.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Custodian of Die, Rolls, and Plates, misc. dates-a, Ledger and Historical Record
of Stock in the Miscellaneous Vault, 4-8-12 subject legal tender face and gold face and back plates: RG 318
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
91
Entry UD-1, (318/450/79/17/02 v. 40). U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Custodian of Die, Rolls, and Plates, misc. dates-b, Ledger and Historical Record
of stock in the miscellaneous vault, 4-8-12 subject SC Series 1899-1935, all denominations through 1953:
RG 318 Entry UD-1, (318/450/79/17/02 v. 41), U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD.
Department of the Treasury, Office of the Secretary, Central Files 1933-1956, file labeled Treasury Dept-Treasurer?s
Office: RG 56 Entry A1-193, (56/450/57/17/2 box 199), U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD.
Annotated contents:
1. Swigart, Jesse E., Assistant Director, Production, BEP, memorandum to Alvin W. Hall, Director, BEP, March
16, 1938, advice of current and planned Treasury currency production.
2. Banister, Marion, Assistant Treasurer, to Mr. D. Campbell, October 19, 1938, advising no uncut sheets
available for distribution at this time.
3. Campbell, Mr., to Henry Morgenthau Jr., Secretary of the Treasury, October 22, 1938, appealing denial of
uncut sheet request and asking for exception to be granted.
4. Gaston, Herbert E., to George O. Barnes, undated, note from October 1938 memoranda asking ?Is there
anything we can tell this man?? regarding request for uncut sheet.
5. Harry H. Hulbirt, Cashier, Treasurer?s Office, memorandum to Michael E. Slindee, Administrative Assistant
to the Treasurer, October 27. 1938, advising four $1 silver certificate sheets [Series 1935] held in vault, one
is reserved for a Member of Congress, and remainder held for special requests from the Secretary.
6. Gaston, Herbert E., to Miss Chauncy, secretary to the Secretary of the Treasury, undated, note from October
1938, indicating that only 4 $1 silver certificate sheets [Series 1935] remain and can only supplied by personal
request of the Secretary.
7. Gaston, Herbert E., to Mr. Campbell, October 28, 1935, conveying regrets that no sheets are available of the
most recent issue (Series 1935) of $1 silver certificates.
8. Lonergan, Austine, Senator (D-Conn), to Herbert E. Gaston, Assistant to the Secretary, Treasury Department,
November 1, 1938, letter asking for sheet of $1 silver certificates or $1 sheet of United States notes on behalf
of constituent Mr. Campbell.
9. Gaston. Herbert E., undated notes to George O. Barnes, November 1938, asking if there are any uncut sheets
of currency that are available, adding that the Secretary doesn?t wish to provide any special treatment to
requesters.
10. Slindee, Michael E., Administrative Assistant to the Treasurer, memorandum to Herbert E. Gaston, Assistant
to the Secretary, November 3, 1938, advising no uncut Series of 1935A sheets were issued and also advising
that no uncut sheets of $1 United States notes are available.
11. Gaston, Herbert E., to Senator Augustine Lonergan, November 4, 1938, expressing regrets that no uncut
sheets of any form of currency are available for his constituent.
12. Gaston, Herbert E., memorandum for the file, November 4, 1938, documenting phone call with Michael E.
Slindee, Administrative Assistant to the Treasurer, wherein Slindee provides itemized listing of all uncut
sheets still held in the Treasurer?s vault and that such sheets are being reserved for special occasions.
Huntoon, Peter, Mar-Apr 2010, Creation of money during the Great Depression, the greatest tectonic shift in Federal
currency in U.S. history: Paper Money, v. 49, p. 90-120.
Huntoon, Peter, Lee Lofthus, Jamie Yakes, May-Jun 2016, Launch of the Series of 1928E $1 Silver Certificates: Paper
Money, v. 50, p. 162-8.
Julian, William A., Feb 8, 1934, letter from U.S. Treasurer to BEP Director Alvin W. Hall ordering 25 sheets of $1
Series of 1928E silver certificates: Bureau of Engraving and Printing Central Correspondence Files, Record
Group 318, entry A1-12, box 217, unlabeled bound file: (318/450/79/14/06 box 217), U.S. National Archives,
College Park, MD.
Lofthus, Lee, May-Jun 2013, 1933 $10 silver certificates, the making of a rarity: Paper Money, v. 52, p. 163-180.
Lofthus, Lee, Sep-Oct 2014, Release and survival of $10 1933 silver certificates: Paper Money, v. 53, p. 316-321.
Lofthus, Lee, Mar-Apr 2018, $1 Silver Certificates of the Great Depression Revisited, explaining the 1928C and
1928E Block Rarities: Paper Money, v. 57, p. 80-91.
Lofthus, Lee, Jan-Feb 2023, 1933 $10 silver certificates, 90th Anniversary and census update: Paper Money, v. 54, p.
6-14.
Morgenthau, Henry Jr., 1933 & 1934, Annual reports of the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the finances for
fiscal year ended June 30, 1933 and 1934: Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
Numismatist, Sep 1942, New Jersey Numismatic Society: The Numismatist, v. 55, p. 827.
Numismatist, Aug 1968, James M. Wade ANA 4068: The Numismatist, v. 81, p.1042.
New York Times, May 24, 1958, 5-Story Fall kills Ex-Roosevelt Aide: p. 22.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
92
Russell, Willis, Lee Lofthus, Peter Huntoon, Mar-Apr 2023, $10 1933 silver certificate star note printing: Paper
Money, v. 62, p. 110.
Stack?s-Bowers Galleries, March 4, 2019, Spring 2019, Baltimore Sale: Lot 9386: Stack?s-Bowers Galleries, Costa
Mesa, CA.
Treasurer of the United States, 1929-1934, Office of the Treasurer, U.S., Division of General Accounts, United States
Paper Currency Received from Bureau of Engraving and Printing, July 1, 1929 to June 30, 1934: Record
Group 50, Entry UD-131 (50/450/41/23/4 vol. 2), U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD.
United States Census, 1940, U.S. Census Bureau: U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
United States Civil Service Commission, 1934 & 1938, Official Register of the United States: Government Printing
Office. Washington, D.C. 1934, 1938.
Yakes, Jamie, Jan-Feb 2013, Series of 1928 $1 United States notes: Paper Money, v. 52, p. 40-51.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing Document
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
93
Treasury Department Documents 1934
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
94
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
95
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
96
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
97
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
98
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
99
Treasury Department Documents 1938
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
100
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
101
Shop Live 24/7
Scan for $10 off your first purchase
whatnot.com
The FNB of Boston
issued only Series of 1929
Glass-Borah Amendment notes
Introduction
This is the story of Series of 1929 notes issued by The First National Bank of Boston, a bank that
reported no circulation in their statements of condition published in the annual reports of the Comptroller of
the Currency for the years 1922-1935. The implication is that the bankers didn?t issue Series of 1929 notes.
Yet the Comptroller sent $19,999,980 worth of type 1 notes to the bankers, and the bankers placed
$9,999,980 worth of those notes in circulation beginning in April 1935. Obviously, something unusual if
not extraordinary was going on.
The Boston Tale
Section 17 of the Federal Reserve Act of December 23, 1914 repealed the requirement that national
bankers had to deposit bonds to secure the issuance of their national bank notes. Prior to that, bankers were
required to purchase at least a minimum amount of bonds whether they took out circulation or not. The
repeal allowed bankers to sell bonds to a level below the former minimum or, if they wished, to sell all of
them and get entirely out of the note-issuing business.
The peak 20th century circulation reported by the Boston bankers was $4,838,000 in 1914 thanks to
a spike in Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency. They reduced their circulation to $500,000 by 1917
through massive redemptions of emergency currency and bond sales. This caused shipments of Series of
1902 date backs from the Comptroller?s office to cease until redemptions caught up. Eventually
redemptions did catch up and modest periodic shipments of Series of 1902 date backs resumed to offset
additional redemptions, the last being on December 21, 1921. At this, point the bankers quickly liquidated
their remaining bonds and got out of the note-issuing business.
As the Great Depression set in beginning in 1929, they aggressively moved during the next six
years to place their bank in a more liquid position. This involved reducing their loan portfolio by 17 percent,
quadrupling their government bond portfolio, and more than tripling their cash and reserves position. These
actions were beneficial to the owners of the bank and its depositors, but exacerbated conditions in the
depression economy within the bank?s sphere by reductions of credit to businesses and withdrawals of cash
from circulation.
The Paper
Column
Peter Huntoon
Figure 1. Note from The First National Bank of Boston from a printing of $10
sheets 7615-17614 delivered to the Comptroller of the Currency from the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing on March 20, 1933, where the prefix
letters in the sheet serial numbers in the B-position were mismatched.
Heritage Auction Archives photo.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
103
$0
$100,000,000
$200,000,000
$300,000,000
$400,000,000
$500,000,000
$600,000,000
$700,000,000
$800,000,000
1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
Loans Etc.
Other Assests
U.S. Gov't Sec's
The bankers were of course looking for investment opportunities, but safety was the byword during
those dangerous times, even if safety meant accepting lower rates of return.
Congress and the U. S. Treasury on the other hand were desperately attempting to devise ways to
augment the money supply in order to provide the economy with liquidity and offset widespread hoarding,
which was starving commerce. One significant means to this end was the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, a
measure to encourage home ownership by providing low-cost home mortgages. That legislation was called
for by Republican President Herbert Hoover, which he signed into law on July 22, 1932. Over the
objections of Hoover and his Treasury officials, a rider was tacked onto the bill that became known as the
Glass-Borah Amendment. It was named for Senators Carter Glass, Democrat from Virginia, and William E.
Borah, Republican from Idaho, who appended it.
The Glass-Borah Amendment granted the circulation privilege for a period of three years from the
date of passage of the act to all U.S. bonds that paid interest at 3-3/8 percent or less. This amendment had
nothing to do with the Federal Home Loan Banks authorized by the act, but instead would allow national
banks to more profitably circulate their national bank notes. The hope of Glass and Borah was that the
higher interest rates would simulate the national banks to increase their circulations. At the time, the bonds
the bankers were using to secure their circulations paid 2 percent.
The incentive worked. National bank note circulation spiked upward by $220 million from $675
million in 1932, an increase of 33 percent.
Table 1. Resources of The First National Bank of Boston, Massachusetts, on December 31 of the years
listed during the Series of 1929 era followed by a plot showing the data.
Loans and U.S. Gov't Other bonds, Cash and Other Total
discounts. securities stocks and exchange, assets
including securities, including
overdrafts etc. reserves with
F.R. banks
1928 $253,053,627 $34,818,917 $36,292,332 $79,096,412 $46,507,649 $449,768,937
1929 $353,993,131 $23,241,236 $23,221,167 $120,389,127 $119,458,256 $640,302,917
1930 $349,468,027 $48,165,150 $50,215,805 $118,373,352 $104,006,860 $670,229,194
1931 $256,612,826 $56,530,133 $43,882,680 $115,245,534 $61,727,994 $533,999,167
1932 $265,739,885 $107,351,754 $37,312,830 $134,635,077 $35,898,206 $580,937,752
1933 $255,162,834 $119,487,029 $45,112,235 $125,874,553 $45,654,075 $591,290,726
1934 $227,845,737 $134,780,032 $36,733,137 $186,848,270 $40,615,387 $626,822,563
1935 $209,158,847 $132,902,662 $37,376,056 $262,146,638 $31,100,343 $672,684,546
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
104
The 3-3/8 percent government bonds looked like an excellent short-term opportunity for the Boston
bankers at the depths of the depression, so they jumped on them. They had plenty of cash and the bonds
were guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury.
During March 1933, just as President Roosevelt?s New Deal Treasury was picking up the pieces
from the Bank Holiday, the bankers purchased $20 million worth of 3-3/8% Treasury bonds of 1941-43,
thereby putting their bank back in the national currency business. The Comptroller of the Currency?s office
shipped $19,999,980 worth of currency to the bank between March 3 and April 20, 1933, with $20 due in a
future shipment. This included $1,223,460 that was on hand plus the remainder as fast as the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing could print it.
Things got strange beginning here.
The primary incentive for national bankers to engage in the currency-issuing business was the
opportunity to earn interest twice on the same investment. Specifically, they earned interest on the bonds
they purchased to secure their circulations and they loaned the currency that they received that was secured
by those bonds. However, the bankers at the First National sat on the currency that they received, being
content to simply earn the interest on the bonds. Thus, the notes sat in their vault rather than circulating and
stimulating the economy as desired by Glass and Borah.
In short order, the bankers perceived that they had overreached by purchasing $20 million worth of
bonds, so after only two weeks they sold half of them on June 1st. Thus, they were required to deposit $10
million into the Treasurer?s national bank note redemption fund to provide for the redemption of that
amount of their notes.
They handled this easily by returning $10 million worth of their notes. They were very careful to
return the sheets with the highest serial numbers in serial number order as shown on Table 3, including
cutting off the $20 E and F011145A notes from that sheet in order to return exactly $10,000,000. These
returns are logged into the National Currency and Bond Ledgers with the notation ?Returned by Bank and
stored in Vault for future use at request of Bank.? Thus, the returned notes were added to the Comptroller?s
inventory instead of being canceled. This is the first instance of this I have observed involving Series of
1929 notes in the National Currency and Bond Ledgers.
The bankers were left with $9,999,980 worth of notes in their vault. They held them until 1935
when the circulation privilege for the high-interest bonds was about to expire on July 22nd. They sold their
remaining bonds on April 11, 1933, and the Treasurer deposited the proceeds in the national bank note
redemption fund.
At this point, the bankers now had $9,999,980 worth of their notes, which at that moment was
nothing more than ordinary cash. They immediately began paying them out. The first redemptions of them
by the National Bank Redemption Agency were logged in on the National Currency and Bond Ledgers on
May 7, 1935.
There are three salient facts attending these machinations.
The first is that this is an instance where the entire Series of 1929 issue from a given bank consisted
solely of notes secured by the high-interest bonds authorized by the Glass-Borah Amendment.
The second is that this entire emission is totally invisible from the annual reports of the Comptroller
of the Currency. The reported annual circulations of the bank during the 1929 era were zero. This resulted
because the bankers didn?t circulate the notes thus avoiding liability for the circulation tax on them.
Table 2. Bond record for The First National Bank of Boston, Massachusetts,
during the Series of 1929 era.
Date Bond Purchases Bond Sales Type of Bonds Net Bond Holdings
Mar 9, 1933 $12,000,000 3-3/8% 41-43 $12,000,000
Mar 15, 1933 $8,000,000 3-3/8% 41-43 $20,000,000
Jun 1, 1933 $10,000,000 3-3/8% 41-43 $10,000,000
($10,000,000 in notes returned to vault to withdraw bonds}
Apr 11, 1935 $10,000,000 3-3/8% 41-43 $0
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
105
The third is that once they sold the bonds and the proceeds were deposited in the Treasurer?s
redemption fund, the $9,999,980 in notes they held no longer were the liability of the bank, but rather the
liability of the Treasury. Consequently, the notes could be released without liability for any circulation
taxes.
The value of this hoard surpassed by far the largest cumulative Series of 1929 issuance of any other
national bank in Massachusetts. The notes, all of which were type 1 notes, began to be released in 1935
where, ironically, many if not most of them hit the streets after August 1st. By then national bank notes had
become an obsolete form of currency.
Bank Signatures
When bankers resumed taking out circulation during the 1929 era, as did these Boston bankers,
they had to place a plate order and provide an estimate of the number of sheets of each denomination that
they required with the Comptroller of the Currency?s office. Furthermore, the plate order was accompanied
by signature samples of the bank officers for reproduction on the plates.
The first set of overprinting plates and the printing order generally closely accompanied the first
bond deposit. However, in this case, the bankers bought their bonds on March 9 and 15, 1933, but the first
printing of the notes was delivered to the Comptroller?s office from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
six months earlier on September 7 & 8, 1932. Those printings were made from a set of logotype
overprinting plates billed to the Comptroller?s office in August 1932, a month before the printing, a charge
that was passed on to the bank.
The fact that the bankers placed their order for the plates shortly after passage of the Glass-Borah
Amendment on July 22nd reveals their early interest in the high-interest bonds. However, the 7-month
delay in purchasing the bonds was highly unusual.
President Philip Stockton and cashier Bertram D. Blaisdell were serving together in 1932, so their
signatures appeared on the first printing. Rogers Day Clark succeeded Blaisdell as cashier in 1933, so a new
set of logotypes was prepared with his signature immediately prior to the 1933 printings. Consequently,
both signature combinations appeared on the notes that eventually were released into circulation in 1935.
Perspective
This is a terrific tale from any number of perspectives.
For national bank note aficionados, the Series of 1929 notes issued by The First National Bank of
Table 3. Summary of the fate of the Series of 1929 type 1 sheets printed for The First
National Bank of Boston, Massachusetts.
Dates $5 $10 $20 Value Bank Signers
Sheets received by the Comptroller of the Currency from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Sep 7-8, 1932 1-15266 1-7614 1-2572 $1,223,460 Stockton-Blaisdell
Mar 17-Apr 27, 1933 15267-319454 7615-159508 2573--19478 $20,268,000 Stockton-Clark
$21,491,460
Sheets sent to the bank
Mar 9-Apr 20, 1933 1-269738 1-159508 1-19478 $19,999,980
Sheets returned to the Comptroller of the Currency by the bank
Jun 1, 1933 169739-269738 59509-159508 E-F011145A $10,000,000
11146-19478
Sheets held by the bank then released into circulation after April 11, 1935
1-169738 1-59508 1-11144 $9,999,980
A-D011145A
Sheets remaining in the Comptroller's inventory that eventually were destroyed
169739-319454 59509-159508 E-F011145A $11,491,480
11146-19478
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
106
Boston?the largest emission in Massachusetts?took place entirely below the radar in the annual reports
of the Comptroller of the Currency. Because the bankers didn?t press them into circulation, they avoided
having to report them as circulation as well as avoiding having to pay circulation taxes on them. They
released the notes into circulation in 1935 without tax liability after they sold the bonds used to secure them
and the proceeds were deposited in the U.S. Treasurer?s redemption fund.
The bankers obtained the notes by taking advantage of the Glass-Borah Amendment to the Federal
Home Loan Bank Act of 1932. This was an obscure provision that allowed bankers to purchase high-yield
U.S. Government bonds to secure their circulations. The objective was to incentivize national bankers to
increase their circulations by making it more profitable in order to stimulate the economy during the Great
Depression.
It turns out the only Series of 1929 notes that the Boston bankers obtained were ?Glass-Borah?
notes. They then sat on the notes until 1935 when the Glass-Borah provisions expired being content to earn
the high interest from the bonds that secured them.
Through this strategy, the bankers thwarted the intent of the Glass-Borah Amendment to inject
seriously needed additional currency into circulation. In fact, they accomplished the opposite by removing
that money from the economy and tying it up in the bonds. Furthermore, they totally avoided paying the
circulation taxes used by the U. S. Treasury to print the currency and fund the part of the Comptroller of the
Currency?s operation that administered the issuance of the currency.
The ploy served the bank well by allowing it to invest in highly secure bonds during the riskiest
days of the depression. The 3-3/8 percent interest the bonds paid certainly represented a conservative
return, but an excellent return for the times. It was a sound business decision from the perspective of the
bank because it enhanced profitability while simultaneously reducing risk to the bank?s depositors. The
bottom line was that the total assets of The First National Bank of Boston showed a net growth during the
Great Depression in part fueled by the bond profits, whereas other banks managed by less savvy bankers
were failing right and left.
There can be little question that those in the Comptroller of the Currency?s office knew that the
system had been played. There had to be some acknowledgment when the smoke cleared, if only on a
visceral level when some clerk authorized the destruction of the $11,491,480 of unused First National Bank
of Boston notes that remained in the Comptroller?s inventory. The largest number of those notes consisted
of $5s, a denomination that often made a big difference to the little people during the Great Depression.
Sources of Data
Comptroller of the Currency, 1863-1935, National currency and bond ledgers: Record Group 101, U. S. National Archives, College
Park, MD.
Comptroller of the Currency, issued annually, Annual Reports of the Comptroller of the Currency: U. S. Government Printing
Office.
United States Statutes, National Bank Act and amendments of various dates; Federal Reserve Act and amendments; Federal Home
Loan Bank Act of Jul 22, 1932: U. S. Government Printing Office.
Figure 2. Note from the 1932
printings with signatures of
cashier Bertram D. Blaisdell
and President Philip Stockton.
Heritage Auction Archives
photo.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
107
Lyn Knight Currency Auct ions
If you are buying notes...
You?ll find a spectacular selection of rare and unusual currency offered for
sale in each and every auction presented by Lyn Knight Currency
Auctions. Our auctions are conducted throughout the year on a quarterly
basis and each auction is supported by a beautiful ?grand format? catalog,
featuring lavish descriptions and high quality photography of the lots.
Annual Catalog Subscription (4 catalogs) $50
Call today to order your subscription!
800-243-5211
If you are selling notes...
Lyn Knight Currency Auctions has handled virtually every great United
States currency rarity. We can sell all of your notes! Colonial Currency...
Obsolete Currency... Fractional Currency... Encased Postage... Confederate
Currency... United States Large and Small Size Currency... National Bank
Notes... Error Notes... Military Payment Certificates (MPC)... as well as
Canadian Bank Notes and scarce Foreign Bank Notes. We offer:
Great Commission Rates
Cash Advances
Expert Cataloging
Beautiful Catalogs
Call or send your notes today!
If your collection warrants, we will be happy to travel to your
location and review your notes.
800-243-5211
Mail notes to:
Lyn Knight Currency Auctions
P.O. Box 7364, Overland Park, KS 66207-0364
We strongly recommend that you send your material via USPS Registered Mail insured for its
full value. Prior to mailing material, please make a complete listing, including photocopies of
the note(s), for your records. We will acknowledge receipt of your material upon its arrival.
If you have a question about currency, call Lyn Knight.
He looks forward to assisting you.
800-243-5211 - 913-338-3779 - Fax 913-338-4754
Email: lyn@lynknight.com - support@lynknight.c om
Whether you?re buying or selling, visit our website: www.lynknight.com
Fr. 379a $1,000 1890 T.N.
Grand Watermelon
Sold for
$1,092,500
Fr. 183c $500 1863 L.T.
Sold for
$621,000
Fr. 328 $50 1880 S.C.
Sold for
$287,500 Lyn Knight
Currency Auctions
Deal with the
Leading Auction
Company in United
States Currency
A FAILED PARTNERSHIP:
THE SECURITY BANK NOTE COMPANY AND CUBA
by Roberto Menchaca
ABSTRACT: The present article documents the repeated attempts made by the American Security Bank Note
Company to print notes for Cuba. Although none of these proposals was successful, some of the proof notes
produced by the company have survived and give us a unique insight into this long-forgotten story.
The first Cuban banknotes, the so-called ?silver certificates?, were produced in 1934 following the
authorisation given by the Decree-Law number 93 signed on March 22 of that year. All ?silver certificates? were
initially produced by a governmental institution; the American Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)
located in Washington. These notes were produced from 1934 till 1949 in denominations ranging from one
peso to one-hundred pesos. However, two higher denominations were incorporated from 1944 onwards, when
five-hundred and one-thousand-peso notes began to be produced. The excessive workload experienced at
the BEP and the interest shown by several private companies in printing the notes, led the Cuban government
to opt for the latter choice.
Figure 1: Obverse
of a one-peso
?silver certificate?
produced by the
BEP in 1936.
The Security Bank Note Company (SBNC) had been founded in 1884 in Philadelphia by Thomas A. Bradley,
who served as chairman of the board of the company until his death in 1940. The company had just acquired in
1943 the Republic Bank Note Company with the aim of becoming an important player in the business of banknote
printing.
Recently uncovered evidence suggests that officials of the Cuban Treasury may have been in contact with
top executives of the SBNC at the time of deciding which private company would engrave the five-hundred and
one-thousand peso Cuban ?silver certificates?.
Eduardo Montoulieu was the Cuban official appointed by its country to supervise the strike of silver peso
coins in Philadelphia as well as the printing of the Cuban ?silver certificates? in said country. During this time
Montoulieu maintained a personal diary where he registered with great detail many facts connected to said
operations. One of his handwritten annotations refers to the period 1943-1944 and contains the full address of the
SBNC and the name of its Vice president, O. Stuart Thomson Jr., together with a reminder to reach him by
telegraph. As seen before, said period of time is the one in which the Cuban authorities were looking for private
engravers to take up the task of printing the five-hundred and one-thousand peso ?silver certificates?. It cannot
be at least ruled out that contacts between SBNC and the Cuban authorities may have existed in relation to the
printing of said Cuban ?silver certificates? than began in 1944. In any case, SBNC was not selected in the end
and the task was finally given to its rival, the American Bank Note Company (ABNC).
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
109
Figure 2: The SBNC building at the
beginning of 1950s.
The printing of new Cuban banknotes was authorised by the Law Number 13 signed on December 23 of
1948. The notes would be printed on behalf of the recently created National Bank of Cuba to gradually replace
in circulation the old ?silver certificates?.
Several companies entered the competition organised by the Cuban Bank to select the company that would
oversee printing the new currency. In this sense, few one-peso proof notes prepared by the ABNC, the SBNC and
by the London-based Thomas de La Rue & Company (TDLRC) have survived. Following instructions given by
the Cuban Ministry of Finance, the one-peso notes were required to display the portrait of Cuban hero Jos? Mart?
(1853-1895) in a central position of the obverse, like the previous ?silver certificates? of said denomination did.
Figure 3: Obverse
of the one-peso
note prepared in
1949 by the SBNC.
SBNC?s proposal included inter alia the use of a different image of Mart? from that present in the former
?silver certificates? and a reverse in blue or green for the authorities to choose. Despite its elaborated proposal,
ABNC won the bid and its notes circulated in the island until 1961.
Figures 4a, 4b: Two reverse proofs for the one peso note created by the SBNC.
Even though none of the two other companies was initially selected, TDLRC eventually managed to enter
into the business and did produce between 1956 and 1960 one-, five- and ten-peso notes for circulation in Cuba.
The same cannot be said for the SBNC.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
110
A new opportunity presented itself again with the advent of a new regime in Havana installed after the
successful revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959. The change in the socio-political system was seen by the SBNC
as a new opportunity to enter in the business of producing banknotes for Cuba.
In its new attempt made in 1960 the company tried a more innovative design that departed from those
traditionally used in the Cuban notes. Instead of depicting Cuban heroes of the XIX century fight for independence
as represented so far in the Cuban currency, the company opted for displaying portraits of the main protagonists
of the recently ended armed conflict.
SBNC?s proposal was sent to the Cuban authorities in early March 1960 and comprised designs for the one-
and five-peso denominations. As competition with TDLRC was expected, the company incorporated some
elements in its new proposal that were taken from those used in the Cuban notes printed by its British rival. The
one- and five-peso notes were prepared in a reduced format, very similar to that used by TDLRC in its Cuban
notes of identical denomination produced between 1956 and 1960. Like in the former, the main portrait was also
moved to the right-hand side of the note.
Figure 5: Obverse of a
one-peso note produced
by TDLRC in 1956.
The one-peso note portrayed in said position Commander Camilo Cienfuegos, who had just died in a plane
crash just a few months earlier, on October 28, 1959. The national coat of arms was placed in the centre of the
obverse, flanked on the left by the logo of the National Bank of Cuba (i.e. Banco Nacional de Cuba). The
institution?s name was also printed on the upper part of the obverse, while the lower part was reserved for the
signatures of the Bank?s President and the Prime Minister of the Republic. Had they been accepted, the notes
would then have been signed by Commander Ernesto Guevara (1928-1967) and Fidel Castro (1926-2016), who
respectively occupied said positions at the time.
Figure 6: SBNC?s
proposed obverse for
the one-peso note.
Other legends that were already present in the previous banknotes produced by ABNC and TDLRC on behalf
of the Cuban National Bank were also retained by SBNC in its proposal. Namely:
"Fully guaranteed with gold, foreign exchange convertible into gold and all other assets of the National
Bank of Cuba. This banknote constitutes an obligation of the Cuban state" (in the obverse), and
"This banknote is legal tender and has unlimited liberatory force, in accordance with the law, for the
payment of all obligations contracted or to be fulfilled in the national territory" (in the reverse).
The composition displayed on the reverse of the note commemorated the landing of the yacht called
?Granma?, that carried Fidel Castro and other 81 rebels to Cuba at the end of 1956 to initiate the last phase of the
revolution that ousted President Batista on January 1, 1959. The legends "REPUBLICA DE CUBA" and "UN
PESO" together with the national coat of arms appear displaced to the left of the printed field.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
111
Figure 7: SBNC?s proposed
reverse for the five-peso
note.
The documentation accompanying the proposal refers that said composition was copied from a two-cent
Cuban stamp of 1959. It also informs that the one-peso banknote would be blue and measure 143x61 mm. Hence,
its size would be similar to that of the 1960 five-peso banknote printed by TDLRC.
Figure 8: Two-cent Cuban stamp produced in 1959
displaying the ?Granma landing?.
The five-peso banknote would be practically identical to the one described above, except for having engraved
the image of Commander-in-Chief and Prime-Minister Fidel Castro. The design was based on a photograph of
the leader taken during a recent speech and had to be modified to remove his right hand holding the microphone.
If accepted, these notes would have carried the image of the same person that signed them, something
unprecedented in the Cuban notes produced until then. Unlike the one-peso note, the five-peso denomination
would be printed in colour green.
Figure 9: SBNC?s proposed
obverse for the five-peso note.
Although SBNC was right in judging that Cuba would soon have its old notes replaced, it erred in assessing
the political context of the moment. The confrontation between Cuba and USA was already escalating in March
1960 and the island was increasingly relying on the former USSR and Eastern communistic bloc for economic
assistance and political support. It is therefore not surprising that the proposal made by the SBNC was rejected
and the new Cuban notes began to be printed in 1961 at the State Printing Office located in Prague, in the former
Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
112
Figure 10: Obverse of
a one-peso Cuban note
produced in Prague in
1961
The proposal made by SBNC in 1960 was likely to be rejected by the Cuban authorities for other reasons as
well. While the idea of creating a banknote portraying the late Camilo Cienfuegos would certainly be accepted
(in fact the twenty-peso notes produced in Prague from 1961 displayed his image), its use in the denomination of
one-peso would have been de facto rejected. Such a predominant position had been (and still is) reserved for the
greatest Cuban hero of all times, Jos? Mart?. Likewise, a main portrait of Fidel Castro in the obverse of the
banknotes to be issued only one year after his accession to power would have not been accepted. Said position
has never been occupied by a person alive at the time of printing the notes circulating in the island and is still the
case nowadays.
Despite all efforts made, the company was never successful in producing banknotes for Cuba. However, the
evidence disclosed in the present article allows to trace the story of the attempts made by the SBNC over almost
two decades to achieve this goal.
BIBIOGRAPHY
- ?Eduardo Montoulieu?s archive, 1915-1940?, Numismatic Museum, Havana, Cuba.
- ?Two engravers merge forces?, The Bergen Evening Record, edition of January 12, 1943.
- ?140 years of Proofs and Specimens of Banknotes of Cuba, 1872-2012?, Yigal Arkin, 2020, Ed.
Arkin Publishing.
- ?The Montoulieu papers?, Roberto Menchaca, The Numismatist October 2023, pp. 53-58.
- ?The Cuban Silver certificates?, Roberto Menchaca, International Bank Note Society Journal,
Vol. 63, (accepted, pending publication).
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
113
Tuscaloosa?s Taliaferro F. Samuel:
Jack-of-all-trades or Renaissance Man?
by Bill Gunther
It is not often that one finds a real candidate for Renaissance man in 19th Century Alabama, but Taliaferro F. Samuel
of Tuscaloosa County might just be our man. Defined as a person with ?genuine competence in and understanding of
multiple different fields?? a Renaissance man is more productive than the simple sum of his experiences would suggest.
As you will soon learn, it almost seems as if our Tuscaloosa candidate was constantly exposing himself to new
experiences, learning new skills by trying new jobs. Let us learn more about the very interesting life of Taliaferro F.
(T.F.) Samuel. But first, a look at how I first learned of Taliaferro.
My First Clue
It probably is no surprise to admit that I am an avid collector of Alabama obsolete notes. In addition, I lived in
Tuscaloosa for many years and notes from that location have a particular attraction for me. At first, like most collectors,
I paid more attention to the nature of the vignette on these notes than who signed the note, but eventually I succumbed
to a gravitational-like draw to find out who these people were. And that is when I learned of Taliaferro F. Samuel. With
a first name of Taliaferro, I simply lost all control and had to go down the rabbit hole and learn more about this man!
Join me, won?t you?
*AO-455-$.25a. Sailing ship center. June 20th, 1862. Signed T. F. Samuel.
In the Beginning
Samuel was born on November 14, 1814, in the small community of Passing, Caroline County, Virginia to
Brooking and Phoebe Samuel. He was the third of four boys born to this Colonial couple who trace their lineage to
England in the 1600s. Caroline County was in fact named in 1728 for the wife
of King George II. His grandfather, Thomas, was also a Virginia native, as
was his grandmother, Ann Brooking Samuel. Benjamin Taliaferro, the man
after whom Taliaferro was named, served in the Revolutionary War and was a
captain in a rifle company that participated in the Battle of Princeton (1777)
with General George Washington. He was later captured by the British at the
Siege of Charleston in 1780. After the war, he moved to Georgia where he
made his name as an attorney, a judge and a representative from Georgia in the
United States House of Representative. It seems likely that the Samuel family
had become well acquainted with the Taliaferro name and subsequently named
their son after this famous patriot.
Attempts to locate the Taliaferro home town of Passing on Virginia maps
were unsuccessful. The community, however large or small it might have been
in 1814, must have passed quickly into history since no historical record could
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
114
be found. One reference to ?lost communities? noted that Central Point, Virginia was located ?at the crossroads of
Passing Road (Route 625) and Sparta Road (Route 630)?? so it apparently did exist at one point!
We don?t know much about T. F.?s early life in Virginia, but his father died in 1816 when T.F. was only two years
old. His mother, Phoebe, was left with four little boys, all under five, including a newborn. It seems likely that Phoebe
would have been busy raising her boys but also trying to instill some desire for and appreciation of an education. We
know that of the three brothers of Taliaferro, one became a farmer, one a merchant, and another a clerk and postmaster.
T.F. Samuel, as we shall soon learn, must have presented himself as an educated young man, whether that education
occurred in school, at home, or in the home of a relative. When he was only 16 (1830), his mother passed away leaving
four teenage boys, ages 14 to 19, orphans.
Postmaster, Central Point, Virginia
In seems pretty clear that Taliaferro and his two older brothers must have entered the workforce after their mother
died. However, our first official knowledge of T. F. Samuel as an adult occurs in 1838 when, at the age of 24, he was
named the Postmaster of the small local community of Central Point, Caroline County, Virginia. This may have been a
position within a brother?s retail store although that is speculation. We do know that the community of Central Point
was in the same county (Caroline County) as that of the Samuel family. Since many post offices were in fact located in
merchant?s stores, T. F. may have learned the basics of being a merchant as well as a postmaster in that setting. T.F.
held the position of Postmaster until April 13, 1840.
T. F. Samuel?s younger brother, Brooking, and older brother William, were both Postmasters in Abbotts, King
William County, a county adjacent to Caroline County. Brooking was first appointed on April 23, 1842, and William
was appointed on July 6, 1844. Since both their father and mother had passed away some years before, it is interesting
to speculate on how these boys became acquainted with the job of postmaster and how all three of them were able to
secure such appointments.
Justice of the Peace (1844-1847)
Sometime after April of 1840 in Virginia, T. F. Samuel made his way to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he was named
Justice of the Peace in Tuscaloosa, County. The 1819 Alabama State Constitution provided for the appointment of the
Justice (or Justices) of the Peace for each county. Exactly when or why Samuel moved to Alabama is not known. His
appointment itself suggests that he had been in Alabama long enough and respected enough to have secured the position
of Justice of the Peace in Tuscaloosa County on March 19th, 1844, for a term of three years. He either requested not to
be reappointed or he was not offered the position when his term expired in 1847.
(It was not until the 1867 Alabama Constitution that the position of Justice of the Peace was made an elective office.
Today (2024) the position of Justice of the Peace has been eliminated in the State of Alabama.)
Assistant Clerk, House of Representatives (December 1847-January 1848)
The Capital of Alabama, along with both houses of the legislature, were located in Tuscaloosa from 1826 to 1846.
Yet, it was only after the Capital was relocated to Montgomery in 1847 that Taliaferro decided to seek the position of
Assistant Clerk of the House of Representatives. The elective position of Assistant Clerk occurred at the beginning of
each session.
Samuel, along with six other candidates, were nominated for the position of Assistant Clerk. To win the election,
a candidate must receive the majority of the votes cast. If no candidate wins a majority, a second vote is cast. Again, if
no winner is declared, a third vote is cast, and so on. On the first round, no winner was declared although Samuel
received more votes (31) than any other candidate. On the second vote, again no winner was declared. It was not until
the fourth vote that a winner emerged with 49 of the 98 votes cast and that was T. F. Samuel.
The following Legislative session, 1849-1850, Samuel again was nominated. This time, a total of four candidates
were nominated for the position of Assistant Clerk. On the first round of voting, Samuel received the second most votes
(35) of the four candidates, but no winner was declared. On the second round, Samuel received the same number of
votes as in the first round, but the leader of the candidates increased his vote total from 46 to 47. Again, no winner was
declared. On the third round, Samuel?s vote total went up to 37, but the leader, James Henry Cooper, a small farmer
from Cherokee County, increased his vote total from 47 to 51 of the 98 votes cast and he was declared the winner.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
115
Retail Clerk (1850 -?)
The 1850 Census records Samuel still living in Tuscaloosa and is now employed as a retail clerk. Since he
married in 1846, we assume that he was not idle from the time he retired from Justice of the Peace. It seems logical that
he could have obtained a position as a retail clerk as early as sometime in 1847.
Postmaster #2 (1852-1858)
On December 12, 1852, Samuel was appointed postmaster of the small community of Scottsville, in Bibb
County. Scottsville, about 20 miles south of Tuscaloosa, was located along the route between Tuscaloosa and
Montgomery. Today, little is left of this community with the exception of Bibb County Route 9, which is also known as
the North Scottsville Road. Samuel held the postmaster position in Scottsville until June 15, 1858, a total of five and
one-half years. Since it was common for post offices to be located in merchant?s stores, and since a postmaster?s salary
was not generally their sole source of income, it is possible that Samuel also served as a retail clerk.
Merchant (1860)
Having served as a postmaster in Virginia and in Bibb County Alabama, Samuel was likely familiar with the
role of a merchant, thus is not too surprising that Samuel would want to try his hand in this occupation. His success thus
far in life had brought him a very modest wealth with real estate valued at $2,000 and a personal estate of $10,000. He
was not a slave owner so his personal estate would reflect ownership of personal items like furniture, animals, wagons,
a watch, etc.
Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County (1862-1865)
It is not clear why Samuel decided to end his career as a merchant in Tuscaloosa,
but we can speculate that it was not because he was making too much money as a
merchant. Samuel threw his hat into the race for Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County and, after
winning, took office on April 2, 1862. The position was for a term of three years and his
term would have ended in April 1, of 1865. That is almost exactly to the day that
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9th.
Under terms of surrender, the Union vacated all public offices in the Confederate States,
thus Samuel would have been out of a job as sheriff.
Agent for the Tuscaloosa County Commission (June 20, 1862)
The scrip issued by the County of Tuscaloosa in 1862 are all signed by ?T. F. Samuel?, as ?Agent for County
Commissioners? and dated June 20, 1862. Now it appears that Samuel was already employed by Tuscaloosa County as
Sheriff, and it would not be feasible for him to be an employee of the County Commission at the same time. Appointing
him as an agent of the Commission, not an employee, may have solved an apparent ?conflict of interests?. However,
any problem with the appointment was quickly resolved in January 1863 when the State of Alabama prohibited the
issuance of private notes, including city and county notes. Thus, an agent who both issued and signed notes of the
county was no longer needed.
For the sake of completeness, all the different vignettes known that are signed by T. F. Samuel are presented in
the Appendix. They all carry the same common date of June 20, 1862. The notes were all printed by Warren Printers,
Tuscaloosa, a firm operated by an Englishman named James William Warren.
Mayor of Tuscaloosa (1868-1872)
According to the 1870 Federal Census, Samuel?s occupation at the date of the Census (June 1st) was Mayor of
Tuscaloosa. One source, Find-a-Grave, notes that T. F. Samuel was mayor of Tuscaloosa ?for several terms.? We can
reconcile these two sources of information if we assume the term of office was two years, and not four years. That
means that the 1870 Census was showing Samuel?s second term as mayor. According to a 1914 publication, mayoral
two-year terms were not unusual.
According to the Census records, Samuel?s wealth had taken a toll from the Civil War with his real estate now
valued at $1,200 (down from $2,000 in 1860) and his personal estate valued at only $300 (down from $10,000 in 1860).
Common 6-Pointed Star-
Shaped Sheriff?s Badge
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
116
Clerk in Store (1880)
Samuel is reported to be a clerk in a retail store in Tuscaloosa in 1880. He may have moved back into retailing
after his stint as Mayor since he had considerable experience in this line of work. There is very limited information in
the off-Census years and some speculation is required to fill in the unknow years. But at age 66, he probably had very
limited employment options.
Personal Life
T. F. Samuel married Emeline Wilson Hearn in Tuscaloosa on March 30, 1846. According to the Census of
Slaves for 1850, Samuel was the owner of only one slave, an 11-year-old female. It may be that she was purchased to
provide help to Emeline with the children who began arriving in 1847. Emeline was only 23 years old, and T. F. was 30
years old when they married. They had a large family with four children: the first a daughter named Caroline Virginia
(b. 1847) followed by three boys, Albert Gooch (b. 1849), Brooking Dew (b. 1853), and Walter Dickson (b.1856). By
the time of the Census of Slaves 1860, Samuel no longer owned any slaves.
All four of the Samuel children survived to adulthood, although Brooking died when he was only 17 and Caroline
when she was 49. Walter died in his 77th year and Albert in his 88th year. Samuel died on November 19, 1884, at the
age of 70 in Tuscaloosa. Emeline died on April 10, 1906, at the age of 83. Both are buried in Tuscaloosa.
Was Taliaferro Samuel a Renaissance Man or Was it he Just Could Not Keep a Job?
We have witnessed a man who held as many as 9 different jobs over his work-life, perhaps more than most men
who were his contemporaries. But is this a reflection of a man with multiple talents or a function of the times? One
common element of the positions that he held was the need to deal with the public. That suggests that he was most likely
a very personable man who made individuals he delt with feel at ease, whether he was postmaster, sheriff, County
?agent? or Mayor or merchant. Regardless of whether or not Taliaferro was a true ?renaissance? man, he certainly was
a man of many talents.
Appendix A
Scrip Signed by Taliaferro F. Samuel, Agent for the Commissioners
The County of Tuscaloosa, all dated June 20, 1862.
455?$.05a?(R324?2).?One?small?steamboat?
facing?left.?
455?$.05b?(R324?1)*.?Two?small?
steamboats.?
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
117
455?$.10a?(R324?3).?Two?small?
steamboats?facing?left.?
455?$.50a?(R324?Unl).??50?cents.??Steam?
boat?center.?
455?$.75a?(R324?Unl).??75?cents.???Sailing?
ship?center.?
455?$1a?(R324?4).?$1.??Plow?center.?
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
118
R324?5.?$1.?(R324?5)?Man?with?prancing?
horse?center.?
455?$3a?(R324?7)?$3.??Man?with?prancing?
horse?vignette?center.?
Sources
*Catalog numbers are from William Gunther and Charles Derby, A Comprehensive Guide to Alabama Obsolete Notes, 1818-
1885, Privately Printed, 2020.
Alabama House and Senate Journals, Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1847, 1849.
www.alabamedepartmentofarchivesandhistory.gov.
Cooper, Jas. Henry. Census of 1850. Ancestry.com.
McLaughlin, Andrew C. and Albert Bushnell Hart, editors, Cyclopedia of American Government, Vol. 2, (New York: D.
Appleton & Co., 1914), pp. 412-413. www.google.com/books
?Renaissance man,? www.britannica.com.
Samuel, Albert Gooch. Census of 1870, Ancestry.com.
_____, Brooking Dew. Find-a-Grave. Ancestry.com.
_____, Booking. Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971, Ancestry.com.
_____, Booking. Public Family Tree, Ancestry.com.
_____, Caroline Virginia. Alabama Select Marriages, Ancestry.com.
_____, Emeline Wilson. Find-a-Grave, Ancestry.com.
_____, Taliaferro F. Alabama Marriage Index, Ancestry.com.
_____, Taliaferro F. Appointments of U.S. Postmasters, 1832-1971, Ancestry.com.
_____, Taliaferro F. Federal Census 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Ancestry.com.
_____, Taliaferro F. Find-a-Grave. Ancestry.com.
_____, Taliaferro F. ?Justice of Peace,? Civil Register County Officals, Vol. 3, Ancestry.com.
_____, Taliaferro F. ?Sheriff,? Civil Register County Officials, Vol. 3, Ancestry.com.
_____, Thomas. Public Family Tree. Ancestry.com.
_____, Walter Dickerson. Alabama Deaths and Burials Index, Ancestry.com.
_____, Walter Dickerson. Alabama Marriage Index. Ancestry.com.
Taliaferro, Benjamin. Wikipedia.com.?
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
119
It?s Not Just About the Vignettes:
William T. Smithson, Confederate Spy
by Tony Chibbaro
Ever since I began collecting obsolete paper money I have harbored a keen interest in the identities of the
men and women whose portraits appear thereon. I own a copy of Gene Hessler?s The Engraver?s Line and all
three volumes of Roger Durand?s Interesting Notes: About Portraits, four sizable works which collectively
identify just a fraction of these portraits. I have also begun to maintain a database of portrait attributions which
I run across from time to time in other hobby publications. But it was not the portrait which initially attracted
me to the note I recently purchased from the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Washington, D.C. (illustrated
below). Instead, I was drawn to both its unusual denomination of $1.25 and the signature of the bank?s
president, William T. Smithson (bottom right). The last name Smithson in association with Washington made
me think of the Smithsonian Institution and I wondered if the bank?s president may have been some relation to
James Smithson, the founding donor of our national museum located there. As I learned more about William
Smithson, however, I uncovered a story that was both captivating and unexpected.
My first step in teasing out the history of this note was identifying the man in the portrait on its lower left.
There was nothing of help in either of the sources cited above, but courtesy of James Haxby?s United States
Obsolete Bank Notes, Volume 1, I soon learned that the identity of the gentleman was W.T. Smithson, the
bank?s president. Volume 8 of Q. David Bowers? Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money provided even more
information, noting that during the Civil War William T. Smithson had been arrested and convicted of being a
Confederate spy. Now my interest was really piqued, and I was eager to unearth all the juicy details. The
following is what I could piece together from online sources.
Above: $1.25 Note issued by the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Washington, D.C. (Haxby DC-235-G14a) dated July 10th,
1862. Appearing on its left side is a portrait of William T. Smithson, president of the bank. Smithson?s facsimile signature, as
well as that of the firm?s cashier, C.A. Zimmerman, are printed at the bottom of the note. At its center is a vignette of the U.S.
Capitol Building which is strikingly similar to that which would appear on U.S. Legal Tender Notes beginning in 1869. On the
note?s lower right is a portrait of a young woman blowing a dandelion, which, according to Gene Hessler, was executed by
engraver James Bannister of the American Bank Note Company.
William Smithson?s early life is shrouded in mystery. The names of his parents are not noted in any online
databanks so I could not trace his lineage at all, thereby failing to establish a connection between him and James
Smithson. Although the place of his birth is named in three separate sources, its location is questionable because of
conflicting information. One source (Find-a-Grave website) states that William Triplett Smithson was born on June
8, 1817, in Rockbridge County, Virginia. His daughter?s death certificate, however, asserts that he was born in
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
120
Lynchburg, Virginia, which is in a neighboring county. To make matters even more unclear, a short death notice
printed in the Staunton Vindicator claimed that he was a native of Buckingham County, Virginia, a third possible
location for his birth. Additionally, there is no record of his early schooling or secondary education, but Smithson
may have attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, as he was buried in the University?s cemetery there.
He may also have had some training in the law, as a number of articles printed over the years listed the epithet ?Esq.?
after his name. Starting in the late 1840s, a bit more information appears on Smithson?s
life. In 1847, he was married to Martha Elizabeth Hamilton in Rockbridge, Virginia, and,
by 1849, the couple was living in nearby Lynchburg where Smithson went into business
with Robert Statham as Smithson & Statham. The firm dealt in groceries, dry goods, and
hardware. An advertisement in the September 3, 1849, issue of the Lynchburg Virginian
proclaimed the firm?s desire to purchase 150,000 bushels of wheat.
Right: William T. Smithson is not believed to have been a relative of James Smithson, the British
subject who was the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Instead, the Virginia native was a banker who operated firms, at one time or another, in his
home state, as well as in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
Around April 1851, Smithson joined fellow Lynchburg resident Charles W. Statham
(the brother of his former business partner) in a venture that they called the Farmers & Merchants Bank of
Washington City, D.C., although the firm did not hold a charter. The entity was officially referred to as Statham,
Smithson & Co. and was actually a partnership consisting of Charles W. Statham, William T. Smithson, and
James G. Hamilton, Smithson?s brother-in-law. Notes of $1 and $2 denominations were issued bearing the
printed date April 1, 1851, and the signatures of Statham as president and Smithson as cashier. These were
payable in ?Virginia Money when (sums of) Five Dollars are Presented.? Apparently these were issued for local
circulation in and around Lynchburg, as Virginia law precluded state-chartered banks from issuing notes of low
denominations and such notes from non-chartered issuers were much needed for commercial transactions. $1
and $5 notes were also issued a year later which did not mention payment in ?Virginia Money? nor have any
limitations on amounts presented. It is not clear whether the firm actually opened an office in Washington in
1851, but mention was made in several D.C. newspapers that funds had been deposited with the Potomac
Savings Bank in order to redeem any notes of the Farmers & Merchants Bank that found their way into the
nation?s capital.
Left: $1 proof specimen of the
Farmers & Merchants Bank of
Washington City, D.C. (Haxby
DC-235-G2). Note the bill?s
promissory statement: ?Will pay
One Dollar for Value received in
Virginia Money when Five Dollars
are presented.?
(N.B. - If anyone knows the
identity of the gentleman shown at
the lower left, please let the author
know.)
The partnership was ended on January 19, 1854, when notice of its dissolution was printed in the Lynchburg
Daily Virginian. Ten months later, Smithson announced the opening of a general agency in Washington called
William T. Smithson & Co. and offered several lines of business, including the handling of claims against the
government and the purchase and sale of real estate. His firm was located next door to the Bank of Washington on
Pennsylvania Avenue. Over the next three years Smithson was heavily involved in the purchase (and sale) of land
warrants - parcels of real estate (usually located in the midwestern states) which the government awarded to veterans
of past wars.
As the Civil War neared, Smithson made no bones about his sympathies. On January 2, 1861, he wrote a
letter to Rev. James A. Heard of Montgomery, Alabama, which was published in the local newspaper there. In it he
wrote: ?I am happy to know that the South is firm and decided in her purposes. I hope she will never give an inch,
but demand everything that is justly her rights.? In Washington, Smithson began aligning himself with other
Southern sympathizers. He was one of three men who posted bail for John B. Floyd, a former Governor of Virginia,
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
121
Rose Greenhow and her
daughter, also named Rose,
under arrest at the Old
Capitol Prison in
Washington in 1862.
Fractional 25? proof note of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Washington City,
D.C. (Haxby DC-235-G10a). Notes of this denomination were in great need
during the Civil War due to the lack of small change in circulation at the time.
and the former Secretary of War under James Buchanan, when he was arrested for conspiracy and fraud. (Floyd later
became a Brigadier General in the CSA Army.) Smithson was also taken into the good graces of D.C. socialite Rose
Greenhow, and it was his association with her that led to his undoing.
Rose O?Neal Greenhow was an attractive Washington widow whose niece had
married presidential candidate Stephen Douglas in 1856. Rose had been born in
Montgomery County, Maryland, and after the loss of her husband in the mid-1850s she
became more sympathetic to the Southern cause and did not hide her support of secession
and states? rights. As a teenager, she had known John C. Calhoun, who had often stayed
at her aunt?s boardinghouse in Washington. It was from him that Greenhow inherited her
nascent political sentiments. After the Civil War began, her home on Sixteenth Street
became a haven for men and women who held Southern views, but many Union
politicians and military officers continued to call on her due to her popularity. Greenhow
saw an opportunity to use her seductive talents to gain intelligence of Union troop
movements and communicated this information through secret messages to military
commanders in the South. Allan Pinkerton, the founder of the Pinkerton National
Detective Agency, ferreted out her scheme and had her arrested, but not before William
Smithson had gotten caught up in the intrigue. According to Pinkerton, Smithson had
also been guilty of sending messages to the South. The detective cited evidence of two
encoded letters which had been intercepted by the U.S.S. Perry onboard the schooner
Lucretia which was bound for Alexandria, Virginia. Signed by a fictitious person named ?Charles R. Cables,? the
letters revealed little more than gossip about Union troop movements and other Union plans. Nevertheless, Pinkerton
recommended Smithson be arrested also, based upon the assertion that the two encoded letters were written by him.
Upon the orders of the Secretary of State William H. Seward, Smithson was arrested on the charge of treason on
January 8, 1862. He was taken by train to New York and imprisoned at Fort Lafayette in the middle of the harbor.
Northern newspapers commented that it was an important arrest and wrote of an impending trial, but Smithson was
released from custody during the second week of May after taking the Oath of Allegiance. Upon returning to
Washington, Smithson reopened his business and ordered the issuance of several denominations of currency in the
name of the old Farmers & Merchants Bank.
The series was printed by the American Bank Note Company with the engraved signatures of C.A. Zimmerman as
cashier and William T. Smithson as
president. The fractional denominations of
25?, 50?, $1.25, $1.50, and $1.75 featured
red security overprints and the engraved date
of July 10th, 1862. New $1 and $2 notes
were also issued after old supplies with
handwritten dates and signatures were
exhausted. The new $1 and $2 issues also
featured engraved signatures and red
overprints, but the dates were handwritten.
Notes dated 1862 are not rare and form the
majority of the specimens remaining on this
bank.
The following year, Smithson?s association with Rose Greenhow came back to haunt him a second time. At
some point, Smithson had been granted Greenhow?s power-of-attorney and he was said to have bought and sold
Confederate notes and bonds on her behalf. He was arrested again on May 23, 1863, this time for dealing in
Confederate securities, and was sent to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington to await trial. Secretary of War Edwin
Stanton made clear his intention that Smithson was to be tried in military court (instead of civilian court) and on the
original 1862 charge of treason rather than the supposed securities violation. Smithson?s brother-in-law and former
business partner, James G. Hamilton, now living in Illinois, gained an audience with President Abraham Lincoln at the
beginning of August and interceded on his behalf. Lincoln seemed to take Hamilton?s plea to heart and wrote a letter
to Stanton that Smithson?s matter should be considered and disposed of according to law. But Smithson was found
guilty of treason in November on the original charge of communicating with the enemy and was sentenced to five
years in the federal penitentiary at Albany, New York.
At the end of December 1863, agents of the federal government seized Smithson?s home in Washington
and all of his property, evicting Mrs. Smithson and the couple?s three daughters. Smithson?s plight did concern
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
122
some in the North who believed that he had been railroaded to a degree. The Daily Register of Wheeling, West
Virginia, commented that the War Department published only ?its side of the testimony? and lamented that
?the abolitionists know of and care for no law.? Smithson?s home and belongings were to be forfeited and sold,
but some in Washington stepped forward to prevent the sale, which eventually allowed Smithson?s wife and
children to reoccupy the dwelling.
Smithson remained incarcerated in Albany for over a year. In December 1864, he was given a conditional
pardon by President Lincoln, dependent on his behavior thereafter, and released from custody. But Smithson
did not return to Washington. Instead, he went to Baltimore, Maryland, where he made plans to reestablish his
business. Just nine days after the Civil War ended in April 1865, he advertised the firm of William T.
Smithson & Co., Bankers, Brokers, & Dealers in Exchange, at 224 Baltimore Street, near Charles. At the
bottom of the ad was printed the following: ?Southern Bank Notes, Bought & Sold.? Smithson?s partner in the
enterprise was William F. Owens. It is highly ironic that the firm could now openly engage in one of the
actions for which Smithson had been arrested during the war.
But this was not the end of the story. In August 1866, Smithson went on the offensive. Proclaiming his
innocence, he brought suit against Secretary of War Edwin Stanton for false imprisonment. Smithson initially
sought $30,000 in damages (he later raised that figure to $50,000) and stated that the evidence in his
conviction, the two encoded messages, were not written by him and that the charges had been fabricated. The
lawsuit slowly made its way through the courts. In 1869, Smithson?s lawyers filed a motion in the Supreme
Court of the District of Columbia attempting to force the government to produce the two encoded letters for
inspection. A decision to refuse the motion handed down in June of 1869 put Smithson at a disadvantage and
Stanton?s death in December that same year basically ended the case. Nothing more of the lawsuit appeared in
the newspapers.
By 1870, Smithson and his family were living in Brooklyn, New York, where he was working as a
stockbroker for a banking firm on Wall Street. Smithson remained there for at least five years until ill health
forced his retirement. He and his family subsequently moved back to Virginia, where he died on July 24, 1879,
at the age of 62. A large granite headstone marks his grave in the University of Virginia Cemetery in
Charlottesville.
Right: Engraving
of Fort Lafayette in New
York Harbor, circa
1860. Smithson was
confined in the old
1820s-era fortress for 5
months in 1862. The
?American Bastille,? as
it was nicknamed, was
utilized for the detention
of civilians who had
been accused of being
disloyal to the Union.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
123
The Lumbermens / Northern National Bank
of Bemidji, Minnesota, Charter #8241
By Michael Saharian
?The river will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise.? Those were the
words of Mark Twain in describing the lawless rage of the Mighty Mississippi. The river begins its 2,350-mile
winding journey as a mere 18-foot wide, knee-deep stream in Itasca State Park, heading 30 miles north to the city of
Bemidji, Minnesota. Bemidji derives its unusual name from the Ojibwa word bemijigamaag, meaning ?lake with
crossing waters?. This refers to the way that the river flows across Lake Bemidji on its way east, then south to the
Gulf of Mexico.
A logging town at the end of the nineteenth century, 2000 men in the Bemidji region cut 100 million feet of logs
in 1901. It seemed fitting when a bank named ?Lumbermens? opened in Bemidji that same year. However, in a few
short years, that bank title would be viewed as a liability to its directors.
The first president of the Lumbermens National Bank of Bemidji was William
Reinholt Baumbach (1849-1933), a native of Burlington, Wisconsin. W. R. Baumbach
served as a private during the Civil War in the 132nd Illinois Infantry in 1864, fighting for
the Union cause. He settled in Wadena County, Minnesota, in 1880, where he became
associated with the firm Baumbach and Meyer in the general merchandise business.
Discontinued a few years later, he established the Wadena Exchange Bank in 1885. In
December of 1892, the private institution was incorporated as the 1st National Bank of
Wadena (charter 4821), with W. R. Baumbach serving as its president and his son,
Clifford W. Baumbach, was elected cashier.
The father and son combination partnered often, controlling many businesses with
Baumbach capital. The Baumbach?s were instrumental in organizing the Iron Range
Telephone Company in 1901. Headquartered in Wadena, the firm constructed or
purchased telegraph and telephone lines and exchanges.
On May 8, 1901, W. R. Baumbach opened the Lumbermens State Bank at Bemidji,
serving as its president, and C. W. Baumbach was appointed vice-president. In March of 1906, John Tucker and
Julius Rosholt of Minneapolis purchased the state bank with the purpose of converting it to a national bank. An article
appeared in the Bemidji Daily Pioneer on June 1, 1906, stating, ?The Lumbermens State Bank of Bemidji today
became the Lumbermens National Bank of Bemidji. The comptroller says that the local institution is today authorized
to do business under the national laws?. W.R. Baumbach continued as president after the bank was nationalized, and
his son remained vice-president, until January of 1907 when Arthur Pearl White (1868-1956), purchased controlling
interest from the Minneapolis bankers.
A. P. White, a native of Bath, Maine, was elected president of the bank in 1907, and served in that capacity for
18 years. Replaced by his father as vice-president of the Lumbermens National Bank after the reorganization, C. W.
Baumbach became president of the Bankers? National Bank of Ardmore, Oklahoma in 1907. Sadly, C. W. Baumbach
passed away on February 1, 1908, under suspicious circumstances at the age of 36. A bizarre newspaper article
appeared in the Union Review (Ardmore) on February 7, 1908, documenting his final days. Complete with the
coroner?s jury demanding an autopsy and the validity of a secret letter. The article also mentioned an impending
divorce, poison, and the whereabouts of a mysterious clairvoyant.
On December 28, 1909, an article printed in the Bemidji Daily Pioneer stated, ?Effective tomorrow, the name
of the Lumbermens National Bank of this city is changed to Northern National Bank. The officials of the bank have
received word from Washington that the requested change would take effect tomorrow. The official?s decided
sometime ago to change the name of the bank, as Lumbermens was a very undesirable name for a financial institution;
the word Lumbermen being conflicting and misleading, as the institution does a financial business with all classes of
people?.
In 1996, the Northern National bank merged and became part of the Northern National Bank in Nissan,
Minnesota. It now operates as the Wells Fargo Bank, National Association in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Lumbermens National Bank issued 1902 Red seals and 1902 Date backs. Currently, notes from this Bank
title are very scarce, as Track and Price documents two known. Both bank titles issued 40,248 large notes, totaling
$503,100 and 8,801 small notes, totaling $105,580, all in $10 and $20 denominations.
William R. Baumbach
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
124
Born in Englewood, Illinois, on November 11, 1868, the note pictured has the signature of President Walter
Lewis Brooks. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1891, playing on the first football team of that
school. W. L.
Brooks started his
banking career at
the Northwestern
National Bank of
Minneapolis,
where he was
employed for 10
years. He came to
Bemidji in April
of 1901 and
helped organize
the Lumbermens
State Bank,
serving as its first
cashier. He remained as cashier of the bank until January 1921, when he was elected vice-president. He was appointed
president of the Northern National Bank of Bemidji 5 years later and remained in that capacity until his retirement.
The directors of the Northern Bank announced his retirement on June 18, 1951, which was also his 60th wedding
anniversary. The previous month W. L. Brooks noted his 50th anniversary with the bank. He passed away 6 years
later in Bemidji. Mr. Brooks also helped to organize the Bemidji Savings and Loan in 1910 and was a member of the
board.
Cashier Joseph Aloysius Forester?s (1897-1962) signature also graces the note pictured. J. A. Forester started
with the bank as a teller and in January 1921 was elected assistant cashier. He was appointed cashier in 1929 and died
in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on February 1, 1962.
Located in Beltrami County in northern Minnesota, Bemidji is nicknamed, ?The First City on the Mississippi?.
The population tripled from 1900-1920, as Bemidji was a major logging and saw milling center during that period.
Two of Bemidji?s most renowned citizens are Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox.
The legendary duo loom large over the town, dotting the landscape with various
attractions named after them. The pair were immortalized in 1937 when statues of
them were built, as part of a promotion for the Winter Carnival to recognize the
area?s logging history. This roadside attraction, on the shore of Lake Bemidji, has
been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. Today, with a
population of around 15,000, Bemidji is an important governmental, educational,
trade and medical hub for north central Minnesota. The wood industry remains an
integral part of the local economy. With sights to see and many outdoor activities,
Paul and his faithful sidekick await your visit.
Andrew D. Stephens
VP Northern NB, 1908-1920
2 term mayor of Crookston, MN
Minnesota state senator 1903 ? 1910
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
125
A Numismatic Stroll in The French Quarter of New Orleans
by Steve Feller
The French Quarter of New Orleans is a unique and wonderful area. Great architecture, great food intermingles
with a honky-tonk atmosphere, loud music, crowds of tourists, and superb jazz. In this mix are some of the most
interesting bank note and coin related numismatic sights to be seen in the United States.
Attending a scientific conference in June 2023 I stayed in the heart of the district at the Monteleone Hotel. This
nineteenth century hotel sits on Royal Street a block from Bourbon Street. The two streets couldn?t be more different.
Royal gives the appearance of old-school elegance with many antique stores with expensive offerings. Bourbon is the
center of enthusiastic music, drink, and possesses an overall boisterous hub bub.
On several occasions I took walks through the quarter.
Trip 1: Up Royal Street to a numismatic establishment:
the James H. Cohen and Sons shop.
Going right out of the hotel entrance shown above I came
to a few important numismatic historical spots. First was the
Bank of Louisiana building, see Figure 3. This building actually
appears on the Civil War $20 note issued by the Bank of
Louisiana.
Figure 3: The Bank of Louisiana building. Today it is part of
the New Orleans Police Department.
Figure 1: Typical French
Quarter architecture.
Figure 2: Monteleone Hotel
Figure 4: Plaque by the Bank of Louisiana building on
Royal Street in New Orleans.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
126
Figure 5: Bank of Louisiana $20
note of May 22, 1862. This is one of
the Forced Issue notes under Union
occupation.
The Forced Issues were the result of Union forces requiring the banks to emit banknotes after Union troops entered
the city..
Diagonally across the street is the building that housed the State Bank of Louisiana. This was designed by Latrobe,
who also designed the US Capitol building! As far as I can tell this bank didn?t issue banknotes.
From its Wikipedia page:
The Louisiana State Bank Building is located west of Jackson Square at the northern corner of Royal and Conti
Streets. It is a two-story building, with stuccoed brick walls rising to a parapet that surrounds a low-pitch hipped roof.
The first floor, higher than the second, has rounded blinds above the openings that house the windows and doors. The
main entrance is recessed, and there are wrought iron balconies on both street-facing facades.
The Louisiana State Bank was founded in 1818, and was the first bank established in the new state
of Louisiana following its admission to the Union. A competition was held for the design of its first building, whose
results are not known. The commission was eventually awarded to Benjamin Henry Latrobe, then already a successful
architect with documented portfolio of civic buildings including the Baltimore Basilica. Latrobe died in New Orleans in
1820. The building was completed in 1822 at a cost of $55,000. It has served a variety of commercial purposes over the
years, including as the Manheim Gallery, an antique gallery, for much of the 20th century. During the building's
operation under Manheim, a roof was constructed between the main building and the service building covering the
exterior courtyard. As of 2014, a wedding and events business called Latrobe's on Royal is operating in the building
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Bank_Building.
Figure 6: Closeup of the bank vignette on the Bank of Louisiana note.
Compare to the modern photograph in Figure 3.
Figure 7: Closeup of the Forced Issue over stamp.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
127
Figure 12: Inside the eclectic James Cohen?s store.
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/james-h-cohen-and-sons-new-orleans-2
Further up the street is the James H. Cohen and Sons shop. There, Jerry
Cohen, part of the five generations that have run the shop, waited on me. I bought
a few notes including the two on the next page.
Figure 8: Latrobe?s event center in the former
Louisiana State Bank building Figure 9: Plaque on the former Louisiana State Bank building now the Latrobe building.
Figure 10: Benjamin Latrobe
(JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty
Images)
Figure 11: James H. Cohen and Sons shop on Royal Street in
New Orleans.
https://www.facebook.com/JamesHCohenandSons/photos/pb
.100057303796106.-2207520000./1821520461232857/?type=3
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
128
Trip 2: Over to Bourbon Street and then backtracking to the US Mint
Around the corner from Latrobe?s and Cohen?s on Royal Street, at 327 Bourbon Street, is one of the homes of Judah
P. Benjamin, esquire. Judah P. Benjamin was first and foremost a brilliant lawyer and barrister in the United States and
after the Civil War in England. During the war he served as Confederate States Attorney General, Secretary of War, and
Secretary of State. At the end of the war, he escaped Richmond with Jefferson Davis and then he went on to England
where he had another and very successful career. Benjamin?s vignette is featured on several Confederate two-dollar
notes.
Figure 13: One dollar note issued by the State of Louisiana when
the state government was at Shreveport. It is dated March 1, 1864.
Figure 14: One dollar scrip note on Patterson Iron Works while
New Orleans was under Confederate control.
It is dated February 20, 1862.
Figure 15: Judah P. Benjamin married Natalie St. Martin,
who was an aristocratic Creole. They lived here from 1835-
1845, then an elegant townhome at 327 Bourbon Street.
Now, the house is being renovated.
Figure 16: T-70 1864 $2 Confederate note with a vignette
of Judah P. Benjamin
Figure 17: closeup of a Judah P. Benjamin
vignette from a T-70 1864 $2 Confederate note.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
129
Continuing on Royal Street and eventually turning right one comes to the French Market, Four blocks past this, on
Esplanade, is the United States Mint building in New Orleans. The mint opened in 1838, closed in April 1861 with the
start of the Civil War, reopened after the war and ultimately closed in 1909. It remains a glorious building. It was
also the scene of much history in early 1861. Louisiana first seceded, then joined the Confederate States. This resulted
in the mint being seized. However, coinage using United States dies continued. As a result, a large number of 1861-
O half dollars were minted by each of three governments: the United States, Louisiana, and the Confederate States. A
similar event happened for 1861-O gold $20 double eagles. In April 4 Confederate half dollars were struck here as
well.
References
Steve. Feller, ?The Forced Issue Notes of the Bank of
Louisiana in New Orleans,? Paper Money LI (4) (Whole
Number 280) 243-255 (2012).
Steve Feller, ?The Anatomy of a Confederate Note,?
Paper Money LXII (2) (Whole Number 344 118-122 (2023).
Figure 18: The historical US Mint at New Orleans, now a jazz museum.
Figure 19 a and b: Bookend
?O? mint marked dimes
from the first year of the New
Orleans Mint (1838) and the
last year (1909).
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
130
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
131
You Collect. We Protect.
Learn more at: www.PCGS.com/Banknote
PCGS.COM | THE STANDARD FOR THE RARE COIN INDUSTRY | FOLLOW @PCGSCOIN | ?2021 PROFESSIONAL COIN GRADING SERVICE | A DIVISION OF COLLECTORS UNIVERSE, INC.
PCGS Banknote
is the premier
third-party
certification
service for
paper currency.
All banknotes graded and encapsulated
by PCGS feature revolutionary
Near-Field Communication (NFC)
Anti-Counterfeiting Technology that
enables collectors and dealers to
instantly verify every holder and
banknote within.
VERIFY YOUR BANKNOTE
WITH THE PCGS CERT
VERIFICATION APP
U N C O U P L E D :
PAPER MONEY?S
ODD COUPLE
Joseph E. Boling
French Central Africa
? During World War II, after the fall of France in
1940, the collaborationist Vichy government
was unable to extend its influence to all parts
of the French empire. French north Africa, the
closest territories to the homeland, remained
under Vichy control. Indeed, when the Allies
landed in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942
(Operation Torch), they were initially resisted by
the resident French forces. French Indochina, far
from Vichy reach, remained aligned with the
Axis because Japanese forces were nearby. But
in central Africa (French West Africa and French
Equatorial Africa, each a consortium of several
separately-named and governed regions), a few of
the constituent territories and colonies moved to
the Free French side and formed a new element
named Free French Africa. They were able to
welcome the Allies and assist in moving personnel
and materiel across the Atlantic from Brazil to
be moved north and east to add to Allied assets.
Monetary instruments in use in both federations
were modified to reflect their change in status. Notes
that had been labeled Gouvernement G?n?ral de
l?Afrique ?quatoriale Fran?aise and Banque de
l?Afrique Occidentale were rebranded as Afrique
Fran?aise Libre?Free French Africa. In some cases
a French flag was added to the notes. Several new
series were created by English and American printers,
using designs completely unlike the Banque de
France printings that had used the traditional French
polychrome process (multicolor letterpress). One
English printer continued to use the polychrome
process with the new title.
This column deals with only three examples of
these changes.
See Boling pg 136
Fred Schwan
Gasoline coupons part II
?? Today we are continuing our discussion of
gasoline coupons for use in post-World War II Europe.
Last time we discussed the coupon system for United
States forces in Germany and the Netherlands. Today
we will discuss the similar system for the United
States in England and British forces in Germany.
Certainly, the ideas behind the US systems in
Germany and England were similar, but there were
many differences. The earliest issued-in-England
coupon that I have examined was issued in 1970.
According to the background tint on the coupons, they
were issued by the Army & Air Force European
Exchange System (AAFEES). This is just as you
would expect but there is a twist?a big one. The main
legend on the coupons is not AAFEES. Instead, it is
USAFE?United States Air Forces Europe. The text
on the back makes it even more difficult to understand.
That text states that the coupons are ?authorized for
use in accordance with current 3rd Air Force and Sag
regulations.?
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
133
All of this is very confusing. Three different
issuing authorities are stated on the coupons. In
addition to those three, something called ?Sag? is
listed. That doubtless refers to the Status of Forces
Agreement, which is the negotiated agreement
between the US and any host nation regarding tax
treatment of goods sold in US facilities or to US
troops and their families (among many other topics,
including legal treatment of crimes committed by US
forces stationed in the host country).
Just as with the AAFES coupons in Germany,
these coupons were issued in booklets of various
(gasoline) denominations in Imperial gallons?1/2
green, 1 red, and 3 orange (image 1). The coupons
themselves are quite interesting. They are arranged
two to a page perforated at the top (changed later to
perforated on the sides).
The coupons are serially numbered with six-digit
numbers that are the same for each coupon in the
booklet and the booklet cover, in the style of club
chits. The numbers have an alpha-numeric prefix. In
this case the prefix is 30 X. Experience tells us that
30 is the denomination of the booklet (30 Imperial
gallons) and that X is a block letter that advances
with each period of validity. The validity period here
is 1 June 1970?15 January 1971.
The good news is that Harold Kroll has a booklet
cover for the coupons that confirms that it is for 30
gallons. We also have seen the Z block (1 June 1971?
15 Jan 1972). Those coupons came from 5 and 50-
gallon booklets with four denominations (1/2 orange,
1 green, 3 blue, 5 red). The Z advanced to the A, B,
and C blocks, all the same type coupons.
Substantial changes were introduced in the early
1980s. Here are the changes that I have noticed.
Denominations were changed from Imperial gallons
to liters. Coupons were perforated on the left instead
of the top. A star/asterisk suffix was added to the
serial number and a seventh digit was added to some
of the serial numbers. The backs were not printed.
The underlying tint on the faces was changed to
Army and Air Force Exchange Service Europe.
When did the changeover occur? The earliest
block incorporating these changes that I have seen is
24 D (15 June 1982?15 January 1983). I am not sure
that the background tint changed then. The amazing
thing is that the block C that we have seen is not
consecutive with this block D based upon the dates of
issue. Block 100 L eliminated the serial number
suffix and changed the font.
So much for the early coupons. What is the latest
date for the coupons in England? I certainly do not
know. The latest coupon that I have seen is block 200
T 15 Dec 1995?15 January 1997.
? A few other differences from the coupons used by
US forces in Germany are worth noting. In Germany
coupons were issued for regular, super, and diesel fuel
as well as motor oil. On top of all those, there should
be ?official use? versions of each type. No such
alternatives have been seen or reported for England.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
134
As I stated in the intro, British forces in Germany
also used gasoline coupons. The coupons themselves
were very different from the booklets issued for US
forces. The British coupons were issued in sheets
perforated for separation. Note that the position on the
sheet is printed on each coupon as a suffix. Although I
have not seen a lot of these coupons, the ones that I
have seen represent a nice range of dates 1971-2005.
You might not recognize the 1.4.1971?31.3.1972
coupons as being British military issues. Most of the
text is bilingual, but the critical information is on the
back.
?Issued by the British Forces in the German
Federal Republic in accordance with the customs
regulations and BAOR [British Army of the
Rhine] Standing Orders Part XXIII....?
Untranslated on the front are two lines in French and
Dutch??Valid only in Germany,? and ?Invalid in the
Netherlands.?
The 1.4.1978?31.3.1979 issue is very similar to
the earlier issue. The most interesting thing is that it
has a large green rhombus. The 1.4.1981?31.3.1982
issue has a bold blue line from top to bottom and the
issue 1.4.1982?31.3.1983 has a green slash. These are
obviously intended to make it easy to distinguish a
coupon that has expired. The 1.4.1990?31.3.1992 issue
is solid red, and the red text printed on it is almost
illegible. The 1.3.2003?31.3.2005 issue has a large M
dominating the face.
Harold Kroll and Larry Smulczenski helped me
significantly with this column. Thank you, guys. I
frequently ask for help from readers, but it is
particularly important in this case. Please contact me
with reports of any coupons of types or varieties that
we have not discussed. fredschwan@yahoo.com
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
135
Boling continued:
Figure 1 is a prewar note of French West Africa. It
happens to also have a wartime endorsement for use
in southern Tripolitania as Free French forces moved
north to engage Italian troops along the
Mediterranean from the rear.
Figure 2 is the same design modified to show the title
?Free French Africa,? with the French flag inserted in
place of a ?5? counter at top right. Why the flag
shows two blue stripes rather than one blue and one
red is a puzzle. Both of those colors are used
elsewhere in the design, so the flag could have been
more accurate. That note is a short snorter bearing the
initials F.F.E.A., presumably for Free French
Equatorial Africa. The fort named at the top of the
inscription (Aruhanbawli or Aruharubawli) does not
come up in an internet search. The serial number
format is completely different from the standard
French system, and there is no date.
Figures 3 and 4 are the same treatment for the 25-
francs note, except that here the French serial
numbering system is retained. Again, the flag is
monochrome when it clearly could be the French
Tricolor. It appears that somebody associated with
these emergency notes felt like needling the French.
Figure 4 is another short snorter, signed by (among
others) Joe E. Brown (fourth from the top) and Harry
Barris (fourth from the bottom). That pair traveled
together widely; I have them on several other short
snorters.
The 100 and 1000 francs notes likewise were
modified for the Free French forces, with flags added
at the upper right face (blue for the 100, red for the
1000).
There is one more note that is found in varieties?
see figures 5 and 6. This was apparently locally
printed, in three denominations (50 centimes, one and
two francs). Only the one-franc note has two varieties.
You can see that the better piece is nevertheless quite
crude. The second, in addition to showing much less
detail, is on lower-grade paper. Leclerc and Kolsky
refer to the later variety as ?suspect.? The jury is still
out as to whether it is a counterfeit or a later approved
printing, made with second-generation plates.
Figure 1
Figure 3
Figure 6
Figure 2
Figure 5
Figure 4
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
136
Figure 7 is the Colonial Medal, a pre-war service
medal that comes with many campaign clasps for
actions worldwide over several decades. This one
carries clasps for Free French Africa and Fezzan. The
former is also seen as simply A. F. L. Others for
WWII in Africa include Tunisia, Tripolitania,
Ethiopia, Bir Hakeim, Somali Coast, Koufra, Libya,
and Eritrea. Pardon my insertion of this metallic and
fabric item in a paper money publication.
See you in May.
ERRATA NOTICE.
In my column last issue, on notes of Operation
Bernhard, during layout three illustrations were
rotated. The one labeled 3b should be 3d; 3c should
be 3b; and 3d should be 3c. In other words, looking
only at the bottom three photos in the right column,
the one at the bottom was moved up into second
place and pushed the other two down, without
changing the labels on those three positions.
Figure 7
Gerald W. (Jerry) Fochtman
Sadly, Jerry passed away Friday February
16, 2024. Jerry was a member of the SPMC
board of governors and a frequent
contributor to Paper Money on topics related
to fractional currency. He was a long-time
member of the Fractional Currency
Collectors Board (FCCB) and the editor of
its newsletter. Jerry was well known for his
exhibiting at the Texas Numismatic
Association and FUN on fractional currency
topics. He had a special interest in satirical
fractionals as well as experimentals. He was
a consummate researcher and his recent work
on Daniel W. Valentine brought to light an
enormous amount of unknown facts and
pictures. He was recently awarded an SPMC
literary award for his article on Valentine.
Jerry was also very active in boy scouts and
he, himself was an Eagle scout.
A devoted family man, Jerry is survived by
his wife of 41 years, Donna and four children
and three grandchildren.
He will be sorely missed.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
137
WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE
LIVE BIDDING ON OUR WEBSITE & MOBILE APPS
DEDICATED CATALOGS & SALES FOR ADVANCED COLLECTIONS
0% COMMISSION FEE ON ALL CONSIGNMENTS
WORLD BANKNOTE AUCTIONS
SPECIALIZING IN US PAPER MONEY
info@worldbanknoteauctions.com
+1 (916)-701-5132 / (888)-707-1564
World Banknote Auctions
P.O. Box 348144
Sacramento, CA 95834
United States
www.worldbanknoteauctions.com
While I may be projecting my own tastes, people
who collect paper money tend also to favor it in their
daily lives. Cash is rapidly being replaced by electronic
alternatives. Yet I make a sentimental point of
spending physical cash when I can. Likewise, the use
of bank checks is also on the way out. I?ve described
my affection for check collecting in previous columns.
Checks can be historically rich documents, visually
stunning, and fascinating for the very specificity of
their purposes. Unlike cash, whose use is almost
always anonymous, checks invariably record the
transactional details that brought them into being.
As with cash, I persist in writing checks. In
particular, that monthly ritual of paying household
expenses?electric, gas, water?has long kept me in
the habit of using checks, even though my bank
stopped returning cancelled checks long ago. In a
digital age, the whole process of check-writing borders
on the pointless. Yet I persist with the ceremony. The
utility bills come in the mail; when they?ve
accumulated, I sit down with them at the kitchen table,
tearing at the perforations and putting the payment
slips in their separate pile.
As I use my handwriting skills less and less, the
simple act of filling out a check represents one of the
few opportunities to actually put pen to paper rather
than fingers to keyboard. Above all, the flourish and
finality of my signature both validates the check and
marks it with my individual style. Of all the details in
my collection of historical checks, what continually
fascinates me is the handwriting of those long-dead
payors and payees. I imagine that each signature or
endorsement represents that one ineffable trace of their
lives, serving as mementos of who those people once
were.
By the end of my bill-paying ritual I have
achieved the pinnacle of performative obsolescence:
After putting the payment slips and checks in their
proper envelopes, I make use of snail mail to deliver
my remittances to vendors who, upon opening the
envelopes, will simply scan the checks for electronic
deposit! All of my hard work dematerializes into the
ether.
The dispassionate observer might say that this
preference for check writing, while a bit pathetic,
amounts to nothing more than a harmless affectation.
Unfortunately for me, however, writing checks under
present circumstances has become a dumb and
dangerous indulgence. I shouldn?t be doing it anymore.
And, dear readers, neither should you.
Historically, checks have always been safer to use
than cash, and it stands to reason that checks would
continue to play a significant (if diminished) role in our
payments system, along with cash itself. However,
combined with modern technology the very features
that once made checks safer to use now render them
particularly vulnerable to criminal mischief.
Check fraud is hardly a new thing. Most of the
early photographs published in the Journal of the
American Bankers? Association did not flatter chin-
stroking capitalists but publicized the features of low-
life miscreants who sought to pull one scam or another
on unwary bank cashiers. Under those circumstances,
though, check fraud was a manageable problem. As
long as banks knew their customers and were diligent
about confirming signatures, losses from swindles were
contained as a cost of doing business.
The United States banking system has a well-
established infrastructure that supports check
processing. Banks and businesses have systems in
place for handling checks efficiently, and this legacy
infrastructure has contributed to the continued use of
checks, making the transition to electronic payments in
the U.S. occur later than in other countries.
Nonetheless this transition is happening quickly.
Yet with the decline of check use has come a
decline in the safety of checks themselves. The speed
and ease of electronic presentment has made the
physical check just an old-fashioned preliminary to
processing an electronic transaction. As this has
happened, the information that routinely appears on all
checks?the routing and account numbers?have
become highly sought after by thieves who, with
available technology, can scan and alter purloined
check images, open online bank accounts to deposit
fraudulent checks, and abscond with funds before the
fraud is detected. It is no longer a matter of somebody
faking your signature or pretending to be you at the
teller window. The frictionless ease of electronic
payments has made it enough to simply possess a mere
image of a check in order to drain your account.
Thus, unlike cash, the check is becoming not
merely obsolete but a dangerously risky instrument to
use. There may always be some demand and role for
cashier?s checks in large amounts that are linked to the
issuing bank, and not to a payor?s account. But the
bank check as we know it, and which my signature
craved, is rapidly heading towards oblivion.
Chump Change
Loren Gatch
A Requiem for the Bank
Check
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
139
The Sole-Surviving Postal Note from La Grange, Ohio
by Bob Laub
Ohio?s Geographics
Ohio is a mid-western state stretching from the Ohio River and the Appalachian Mountains in the South to Lake
Erie, and beyond to Ontario, Canada in the North. The state is bordered by Pennsylvania on its Eastern boundary, with
Indiana to the West. Michigan lies to the Northwest, while West Virginia is at the Southeast, and Kentucky to the
South.
The state takes its name from the Ohio River. The name originated from the Seneca language word ?ohi: yo??,
meaning ?great river? or ?large creek?. Ohio was admitted to the Union on March 1st, 1803, and is the nation?s seventh
most populated state. Historically known as the ?Buckeye State?, after its Ohio buckeye tree. The state capital and
largest city is Columbus.
La Grange?s Early Postal History
The town of La Grange is located in the extreme North-central part of the state. The first post office in the
township was located in the home of Calvin Wilcox, who was the first Postmaster. He served two separate terms in
that position, February 21st, 1828, through May 8th, 1836, and again August 16th, 1842, until February 15th, 1852. His
son George briefly occupied that position from October 4th, 1852, until September 7th, 1853. Over the years, the post
office has occupied eight different locations on the village square. The village was incorporated and held its first
election on April 5th, 1875.
During the postal note years (1883-1894), the population of La Grange, in the early 1880?s, was 511, and by the
1890?s had only increased to 551. When the postal note series began on September 3rd, Mrs. Ellen M.J. Noble was the
Postmaster. This is evidenced by her name on the front of the note, as well as also being verified through post office
records. Mrs. Noble held this position from December 30th, 1874, until November 21st, 1883. Women were frequently
appointed postmaster of small, rural post offices, with their numbers continually increasing in the last quarter of the
19th century.
During Postmaster Noble?s term in office, the post office was located in a corner of the company store, with rows
of numbered boxes for individual customer?s mail. This was a fascinating place to browse, with a wide selection of
life?s necessities. If an item was not available, the storekeeper would order it, or an individual could simply place an
order through a mail order catalog. In the evening, the store was a gathering place for the men of the town, to pick up
their mail and visit with fellow workers.
On July 20th, 1893, the U.S. Post Office Department changed the spelling of La Grange to LaGrange, for no
apparent reason. Many of the townspeople continue to use the older form of the town name.
The La Grange # 1 Postal Note
This is a Type 1 Postal Note for two obvious reasons. First, and foremost the note is printed on a very distinct
yellow, watermarked paper. All future notes were on an off-white to light grayish paper. Secondly, but slightly less
obvious, is the overall size of the document. All Type I notes were about 12% larger than additional notes produced for
the series.
Type I notes, (as well as Type II, II-a, and III) were all engraved, and printed by the Homer Lee Bank Note
Company of New York. The HLBNCo was awarded the first (1883-1887) of three four-year contracts.
Observing this postal note from the obverse will provide a great deal of basic information. Starting from the left
there are two printed columns, one for the months (Jan. - Dec.), and the second for the years (1883-1894). Both
columns were to be punch-canceled at the time of issue. In this case the month of September and the year of 1883 have
been circularly punched. Moving to the right side of the note, there are two large circles. The top circle is where the
?issuing? office cancel would be applied, while the bottom circle was reserved for the ?paying? office. Only the top
circle is stamped, which indicates the note as not having been cashed. The octagonal cancel shows the town name (La
Grange) as well as the date (Sep 3, 1883). That date reflects the official ?first day of issue? for the series. These
custom-made cancels, many times have the capital letters M.O.B. for Money Order Business. Ordering these hand
cancels was initially the responsibility of individual postmasters.
Moving further to the right, the next element observed is the serial number, which in this case is #1. Every
designated post office issuing postal notes, all started with serial #1. These numbers would progressively increase
through usage and were all printed in red. Located to the right of the serial number would be the city and state. These
were always printed in blue.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
140
The last set of printed columns designates dollars, dimes, and cents. The dollar column has numbers 1 through 4,
and 0, while the dime column shows numbers 1 through 9, and 0, and the cents column as well. This postal note was
issued for seven cents, which means the ?7? in the cent?s column is circle punched. This would also mean the ?0? in
the dime?s column, and the ?0? in the dollar?s column, should have also been circle punched, but in this case they were
not.
This was the first postal note issued from La Grange, on the official first day of sales, so it is more understandable
how multiple clerical errors transpired. The issued amount on any postal note would be additionally confirmed by an
area above where the postmasters? signature was required. These issued amounts were to be written in long-hand by a
postal employee. The number ?7? can very faintly be seen but is written numerically. This was designed to make it
more difficult for anyone handling the note to dishonestly raise the issued value. All postal notes, issued for less than
one dollar, required a pair of horizontal lines to be applied between the words ?the sum of? and ?dollars?. This was
another procedure which was overlooked when this was issued.
In the case of this note, a nefarious individual, possessing a common conductor?s punch and a pen, could have
easily raised the note?s original issued value from seven cents to $4.97. A would-be thief, for example, would simply
circle-punch the ?4? in the dollar? column, and the ?9? in the dime?s column. They then only needed the use of a pen to
add a ?9? in front of the ?7? which was already on the issued note. If this practice went undetected, by an unsuspecting
postal clerk, a would-be thief could show a net profit of $4.90. An effort such as this, in today?s society, would not be
worth the consequences, however in 1883, this dubious endeavor would have provided more than seven weeks? wages
for a common laborer.
A designated city/state where a note was to be cashed was a prerequisite with all Type I (and Type II) Postal
Notes. This note designates La Grange, Ohio as also being the ?paying office?, another area which needed to be hand-
written by the issuing office. (In January 1887, Congress placed a law into effect which stated all further postal notes
could be cashed at ?any money order office?).
An early Postal Note census, by Jim Noll
If there was ever a single person which greatly enhanced the collecting of U.S. Postal Notes, that person would
have to be Jim Noll. There have been many individuals over the years who have contributed to the hobby through
research and writing, but Jim will always be remembered for keeping an active census of all known postal notes. His
dedication, for close to 40 years, was a constant source of information and the catalyst which, I?m sure, encouraged
many collectors to enter the hobby. Sadly, Jim passed away January 26th, 2014, but his memory lives on. He will
surely be missed.
Over the years, Jim compiled seven different editions of his census with the last coming in June 2004. That year,
the number of notes recorded was 1,460. Today?s numbers, as of Mid-January 2023, reflect 2,232 notes. New notes
continue to be recorded in the census at an average of 50 notes per year.
Currently, I am aware of only 34 serial #1 notes nationwide. Of that number, five are from Ohio. Those being
Burton, Cincinnati, Wakeman, Youngstown, and now La Grange. No state surpasses Ohio?s number of #1 notes, with
New York as it?s only equal. According to Jim?s list, there were 97 notes from the ?Buckeye State? in 2004. Presently,
August/2018, there are 127. When one factors in the almost 71 million postal notes issued nationwide from 1883-1894,
with 4,682,250 purchased just in Ohio alone, it is a wonder more of these notes have not come to light for today?s
modern collectors.
The Ty. I, serial # 1, issued
September 3, 1883, the official
?first day of issue? for 7-cents,
and being the only surviving note
from La Grange, Ohio.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
141
Robert Calderman
Number One Notes in Disguise!
The U.S. Paper Money Market has been astoundingly
robust over the past four years! Bread and butter large size
type notes, and high denomination small size examples in
collector grade VF to AU have in many cases tripled in
value since the Covid madness that took the world over
around this same time of year back in 2020. There has
been plenty of would-a should-a could-a talk between
collectors and dealers across bourse floors all over the
country recently.
?If I had only known, I would have sold everything in
my holdings and bought nothing but Chiefs, Bisons, and
Educational notes? look how expensive they are now!?
This is nothing new in the world of collectibles. Boom
and bust cycles are always full of excitement for those who
get their timing seemingly perfect and bittersweet for
others that dwell too long on what could have been had
they just pulled the trigger and dove in head first when
they had the opportunity. Who knows what the future
holds? Regardless, with all the ebbs and flows one thing is
very clear? the hobby is as strong as ever!
Even when new records are being hit at almost every
turn, there are always opportunities out there. Take a look
at national bank notes! There have been some amazing
deals recently for those that are doing their homework!
When multiple collections hit the market seemingly back-
to-back it is extremely difficult for every note to be
absorbed into the marketplace at high levels. The more
specialized the category the more this reigns true. Along
with national bank notes, there have been several small
size varieties that are exceptionally rare and are now
trading for incredible bargains! Challenging large size Fr.#
rarities have also come to market this year trading for
pennies on the dollar vs. historic auction realizations.
When the most common material is inflated to the point
that everyone is scratching their heads, many dealers and
collectors are missing what is right in front of them, mega
deals on the absolute best stuff that will potentially never
come around again in our collective lifetimes!
Fancy serial number notes are a category that has truly
caught fire recently. Beginning February 2022 with the
Zietmann Goldberg Auctions sale, records were hit left and
right and a feverish fancy frenzy began! Notes featuring
solid 8-digit serial numbers took the spotlight along with
serial number one show stoppers. There are a number of
brand new collectors gravitating toward the fancy serial
number category and it would appear that the market
cannot supply them with enough material to satisfy their
insatiable appetite! Incredibly in January 2023, World
Banknote Auctions sold a solid serial number nine district
set of ten-dollar series of 1999 federal reserve notes
realizing an astounding $149,500.00!!! When fancy
numbers hit monumental dollar figures like this I cannot
help but feel for all of those Fractional Currency
Collectors, they have no serial numbers at all! How can
they be having any fun? How miserable that must be, oh
the humanity!!! ?
Now that you have a brief glimpse of the current pulse of
the paper money market, there is a very important factor
we have not yet discussed. Some of the very best material
that exists flies under the radar, completely outside the
viewing spectrum of the public eye. Incredible notes trade
privately all the time and do not make it onto the glossy
vibrant pages of auction catalogs! Building relationships in
this hobby can be much more rewarding than just the
material itself. It is no secret that all of the notes in our
collections will outlast us; we are after all just the lucky
caretakers for what brief time we have to enjoy our
treasures. Have you made friends in this hobby? Have you
taken the opportunity to volunteer and invest some time in
growing the hobby for the future with your local club or
national organizations like the SPMC Society of Paper
Money Collectors? Start by attending a major show like
FUN or ANA. Get to know your fellow collecting brethren
at a club meeting or educational seminar. Are you
genuinely not a people person? That is okay, fortunately
this is not a requirement! Simply loving paper money and
being a collector is the only prerequisite!
Featured for this installment is an incredible district set
of serial number one notes that I was very fortunate to
recently purchase and add to my collection! This
opportunity would have never existed had I stayed on the
sidelines and bought notes on my phone via the internet
sitting on the sofa eating popcorn! I am very thankful for
the friendships I have made by attending shows and
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
142
volunteering to help the hobby grow in what little ways I
could find to help the cause. While the motivation was
genuinely a simple desire to see the hobby expand, the
result of opening doors for my own collection to grow has
been an incredible and unexpected reward!
For those of you that are scratching your heads right now
looking at these notes wondering if these supposed serial
number one notes all require a secret decoder ring to
decrypt or maybe a pair of special spy glasses to see
clearly, this is not the case. One of the perks of being a
small size specialist is knowing which series of notes had
serial numbers that continued on from their previous series
and did not start over again at 00000001. The fact that
these were saved at all is a miracle all on its own! Take a
close look, each of these series of 1950-B five dollar notes
is the very first printed for each and every one of the
twelve Federal Reserve banks! Talk about a spectacular
dozen, wow!!! You never know what you might find out
there and what treasures you may have the opportunity to
add to your collection. All it takes is heading out on the
road and adventuring a bit?
Do you have a great Cherry Pick story that you?d like to
share? Your note might be featured here in a future article
and you can remain anonymous if desired! Email scans of
your note with a brief description of what you paid and
where it was found to: gacoins@earthlink.net.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
143
The Obsolete Corner
The Bank of Kensington
by Robert Gill
Spring is just about upon us, and I?m ready. It
seems that the older I get the worse the cold weather
bothers me. I guess that?s just part of the aging
process. And another thing about my age, the older I
get the more I enjoy this great hobby of paper money
that we have. I?m always looking to add to my
collection. Hopefully, this will be a good year for me.
And now, let?s look at the sheet in my collection that
I?ve chosen to share with you.
In this issue of Paper Money let?s go to the
Badger State and look at The Bank of Kensington. It
was only in existence for about a year, but during that
short period of time, it had quite an impact on its
surrounding area. Unfortunately, it was a very
negative impact! And now, let?s look at its history.
According to L. H. Everts' History of Oakland
County Michigan With Illustrations, the ?era of
extravagant speculation? in Michigan was inaugurated
in 1835 and lasted until about 1840. During this
period, an inflated and frequently worthless currency
was issued by ?wildcat banks? and was in general
circulation. Of this class was The Bank of Kensington.
The organizers of this institution were Alfred A.
Dwight, Frederick Hutchinson, Enoch Jones, Sherman
D. Dix, and Henry Fisk. These parties established
themselves into a banking company, and in accordance
with state law then in existence (which was to the
effect that twelve freeholders issuing a fund for one
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars would be
empowered to start a bank with a capital of fifty
thousand dollars), went around and induced several of
the moneyed men of the area to sign with them, and
also take stock in the venture.
The next step in this enterprise was to send a
delegation to Detroit to borrow a Certificate of Deposit
from The Farmers? and Mechanics? Bank, deceitfully
representing to the state that The Bank of Kensington,
of Kensington, Oakland County, Michigan, had
deposited in the Detroit bank fifty thousand dollars.
When the State Bank Inspector arrived in Kensington,
the management produced this certificate. Proof
enough! So, the Inspector authorized the
commencement of business. And starting on
December 29th, 1837, business was just what the bank
did! A large supply of Bank of Kensington notes was
obtained from printers in the east, and the duo of Dix
and Dwight went to work issuing the notes with
charming alacrity. When circulation did not meet their
expectation, they took $50,000 of the notes, without
the knowledge or consent of the Bank Directors, and
went on a ?tour of speculation?. They ended up in
Milwaukee and started buying everything from a farm,
a village lot, a pinchbeck timepiece, to a suckling calf!
During their absence, the State Legislature passed
an act making it incumbent on banking corporations to
have real-estate security. Accordingly, the State Bank
Commissioner went to Kensington, and lo! of all the
stockholders, there were just two who owned real
estate. Those of the others that did had taken
precaution to transfer ownership to other people?s
names. And to these two, the Commissioner insisted
on them recalling their issues and winding up the
Bank?s concerns.
Upon realizing the situation that had been put
upon them, they inserted advertisements in Detroit and
Pontiac newspapers. Soon after, the scoundrels were
arrested by the Sheriff of Milwaukee and returned.
Some of the money was afterwards recovered. In less
than a year from its establishment in 1837, Kingsley S.
Brigham was appointed receiver, and The Bank of
Kensington soon followed the numerous other similar
ventures of those days.
The Bank of Kensington scandal devastated the
Village of Kensington. The local citizens soon
abandoned the area. By the time the Civil War began
in 1861, many of Kensington?s structures had either
disappeared or were being reproved. Located on
Grand River Road just east of the Livingston County
line, the empty bank building, of which construction
had only just been completed when the Bank failed,
was used for many years by A. Wooton as a granary.
It was occupied until 1920, when it fell into disrepair.
By September of 1931, its remaining walls were
demolished.
Today, the only remaining ruins of the Village of
Kensington can be seen by visiting the Nature Center
located at the western edge of Kensington Metropark.
Along the Aspen nature trail, you can find the
remnants of at least two houses along with various
farm equipment, fences, and more, scattered
throughout the nearly mile and half wooded area.
So, there?s the history of this short-lived Bank,
and its impact on those who supported it. It seems that
it?s the same old story over and over, as many people?s
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
144
lives were ruined because of the greed of a few.
As I always do, I invite any comments to my cell
phone (580) 221-0898, or my email address
robertdalegill@gmail.com
So, until next time I wish you HAPPY
COLLECTING.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
145
UNESCO?World?Heritage?Sites?Depicted?on?Bank?Notes???Argentina
The former Spanish colony of Argentina is the second largest country by land mass and third largest by population in South
America. Chile and Argentina form the southern tip of South America. Argentina boasts 11 World Heritage Sites but only
four are displayed on their banknotes.
Peninsula Vald?s (1999) is the natural habitat of the endangered southern right whale. The
peninsula under 7 miles wide also holds important groups of elephant seals, sea lions and
orcas (a.k.a. ?killer whales?). The interior of the land is Patagonian desert steppe. The climate
is dry with strong winds. The only banknote note depicting this site is the recent 200 Peso
banknote
? P364/B420 200 Peso of 2016-2021
P364 200 Peso front with Southern right whale, coral ; reverse with Vald?s Peninsula
Iguazu National Park (1984) with the falls as its main feature was added to UNESCO for its exceptional natural beauty
and it's the habitat of rare and endangered species. The park spans Argentina and Brazil, with both parts being UNESCO
sites. The waterfalls on both sides together span over 8858 feet and have a height of 262 feet. Iguazu is an indigenous (Tupi-
Guarani) name, meaning Great Waters. Note Argentina was proclaiming the Iguazu falls 100 years before they were
inscribed by UNESCO ? but not at all since being inscribed!
The five banknotes note depicting this site are the following banknotes
? P224/B342 100 Pesos of 1885
? P289/B342 10 Pesos of 1970-73
? P295/B348 10 Pesos of 1973-76
? P300/B353 10 Pesos of 1976
? P313/B366 10 Pesos of 1983-84
P300 10 Pesos front with General Manuel Belgrano P300 10 Pesos reverse with Iguazu falls
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
146
The Jesuit Block and Estancias of C?rdoba (2000) comprises complementing urban and rural settlements that were
developed by the Society of Jesus as part of their missionary activities. In C?rdoba proper, the Jesuits were allocated one of
the blocks in the checkerboard plan of the city, where they built a university (Col?gio Maximo), a college and a church that
also held the Jesuit political/administrative bodies. The rural estancias, supported by complex hydraulic systems and worked
by indigenous farmers and African slave laborers, were to provide the necessary resources through farming and textile
production. Two identical Banco Provincial de Cordoba banknotes depict the cathedral at Cordoba with different printers.
? PS733/B-NL 10 Pesos of 1881 Front: Gregorio Funes (D?an Funes), cathedral of C?rdoba Back: Arms
? PS738/B-NL 10 Pesos of 1881 Front: Gregorio Funes (D?an Funes), cathedral of C?rdoba Back: Arms
Los Glaciares National Park (1981) covers a remote mountain landscape known for its ongoing glacial activity. The park
is situated on the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest ice cap in the world outside of Antarctica and Greenland. It
holds 47 larger active glaciers, among them the Perito Moreno. They feed two large lakes: Lake Argentino and Lake Viedma.
There is one recent banknote portraying this site.
? P361/B417 20 Pesos of 2017 with lake and clouds over Patagonian steppe; map of Argentine Sea, Antarctica, and
South Atlantic Islands
P361 20 Pesos ? front with guanaco, reverse with lake and clouds over Patagonian steppe;
map of Argentine Sea, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
147
$MALL NOTE$ By Jamie Yakes
A new Chicago 204, for 2024. (Courtesy Andy Timmerman.)
New Back Plate 204 Discoveries, and the Undiscovered
A new year, a new discovery. Andy Timmerman of Kearney Coin Center in Kearney, Neb., was
presented a $20 note at the F.U.N. (Florida United Numismatists) show in January. He glanced at it, and
without hesitating bought it. Delighted, he posted his find on a popular Facebook collector?s group. It was a
Series of 1934B Chicago note with serial G13053617B, face plate E99, and back plate 204?the first known
back 204 for the series and district. Christmas had come again for Timmerman.
Back plate 204 was the
only late-finished $20 intaglio
plate, face or back. The Bureau
of Engraving and Printing
(B.E.P.) used it as the master
plate for $20 production backs
from 1935 to 1942, before
finishing 204 as a production
plate in March 1944 and
printing sheets with it until
October 2, 1946.1
Plate serial number 204
was assigned to the plate in
1935. When etched into the
plate in 1944, contemporary
back plates were being finished
with serials in the 480s and
490s. Collectors are drawn to the fact that the ?204? is wildly out of range with serials on other backs used
alongside it. In the two and a half years that 204 sheets moved through the press room, the B.E.P. had used
Series of 1934, 1934A, and 1934B $20 faces. Sheets even persisted a few months past October 1946 to
become printed with 1934C faces.
Andy?s note joins a list of recent back 204 discoveries. A decade ago, Heritage Auction Galleries sold
the first reported 1934C, a note from Chicago. A second one surfaced last year. Jeremy Dansie, a Utahn who
specializes in mid-grade circulated small-size type, found the discovery 204 for Boston last August. Dansie
runs the website PaperMoneyProject.com and maintains censuses of early small-size varieties. A collector
who possessed the Boston 204 noticed none of that type was listed on the site and reported the note to him.
Dansie became interested, they struck a deal, and he now owns a 1934 with serial A36193515A and plates
I19/204. It?s the only known Boston 204 for any series.
Back 204s are a
challenging but doable set for
any collector to pursue and
tend to be more affordable than
late-finished plates for $1s, $5s,
and $10s. Over forty back 204
types are possible, a type being
a series-district pairing without
regard for the serial number. To
date, 27 have been reported.2
Eleven types are
possible with 1934 faces. This
includes ten districts, and two types for San Francisco: green-seal regular notes and brown-seal Hawaii notes.
The B.E.P. didn?t use 1934 faces for New York and Chicago after 1940, so no 204s for those were printed.
Why? Because blank sheets were first printed on back plates, and then the back-only sheets printed on face
A unique Boston 204, for now. (Courtesy Jeremy Dansie.)
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
148
plates. Any back sheets printed after the final use of a face plate, then, could never have been printed with that
face.
Twelve types can be found for both 1934As and 1934Bs. Again, the B.E.P. printed regular and
Hawaii 1934A notes for San Francisco. They used 1934A Minneapolis faces only in 1942, which preceded
the use of back plate 204. For 1934Bs, there was just the usual production for the twelve Federal Reserve
banks.
Discovery of additional 1934Cs with 204 backs is like searching for Wonka?s Golden Tickets: The
more 1934Cs you look at, the better your chances of finding one. Series of 1934C back 204s are possible,
though not probable, for each district. Whether all were printed depended on if 204 sheets lasted into 1947,
and for how long.
The B.E.P. printed no 204 sheets after October 2, 1946, and what remained gradually diminished,
with most landing on 1934B faces. They sent the first 1934C faces to press a week later, and for the rest of the
year used 1934C faces only from New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. That two Chicago notes are known
suggests there?s a good chance that New York and Philadelphia 204s will be discovered.
Printing of $20 notes was moderate, however, so it?s possible some 204 sheets got carried into 1947.
If they did, the sooner a district?s face plates went to press, the better the odds of them getting 204 sheets. The
early ones were Richmond and St. Louis faces in January, and faces for Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, and San
Francisco in February. Atlanta faces followed in March, while Kansas City faces lagged until August, and
Minneapolis faces slumbered until October.
The current census for back 204s shows 179 notes, of which seven are stars.3 Back 204s are most
common with 1934A faces: 132 are reported, half of them Hawaiian. Series of 1934s are scarcer and reported
at one quarter the total for 1934As. The toughest are 1934Bs, at twelve known, and the aforementioned
1934Cs. Minneapolis is the only district yet to be found for any series with a 204 back. That one is a diamond.
As are more 1934Cs. They?re out there. When you find them, report them to The Paper Money Project.
Notes
1. Yakes, Jamie. ?Fantastic Life of $20 Back Plate 204.? Paper Money 56, no. 3 (2017, May/Jun): 247-248.
2. Current census of $20 back 204 notes. The Paper Money Project. https://www.papermoneyproject.com/20-frn-
lfbp204. Accessed February 3, 2024.
3. Ibid.
Sources of Data
United States Treasury. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Ledgers Pertaining to Plates, Rolls, and Dies, 1870s-1960s
(Entry P1). Containers 43 and 147. Record Group 318: Records of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
National Archives and Records Administration, Archives II, College Park, Maryland.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
149
The front of the Type-41 Treasury note endorsed by Major William H. Thomas, CS, at Shreveport, LA.
Image: Jim Fitzgerald
Maj. William H. Thomas, Chief C. S.
Shreveport, Louisiana
arely do we find military endorsements with a
place of issue, but a new endorsement by Maj.
William H. Thomas, Commissary of Subsistence, has
surfaced with a place of issue at Shreveport,
Louisiana. This was a unique place of issue until this
new discovery by Jim Fitzgerald, and the earlier
example endorsed by Capt. E. M. Stackpole, AQM &
ACS, sold for a record $7,800 on Heritage Auctions.
The newly discovered endorsement reads:
According to research by Charles Derby,
William Hinton Thomas was born in Alexandria,
Virginia on August 14th, 1825 to William P. Thomas
and Mary Ann Hilton. On June 21st, 1848, he married
Catherine L. Pumphrey in Washington, D. C. The
1850 census reported that the couple lived with the
family of the wife in Washington, D. C., and that
William Thomas was employed as a carpenter. A
son, Percy Theodore Thomas, was born in 1852. The
1860 census reported Thomas still living in
Washington, D. C. and working as a clerk.1, 2
1861 William H. Thomas took on the role
of Acting Quartermaster on April 1st for the Wise
Legion in the State of Virginia. He was appointed as
a Captain & Assistant Commissary of Subsistence on
June 5th by Gen?l H. A. Wise, taking rank
retroactively on May 7th. Documents show that
Thomas also served in the capacity as an Acting
Assistant Quartermaster to this unit. On August 7th
Thomas was promoted as the commissary of his
brigade.
1862 Thomas was appointed by Gen?l Ben
Huger as Major & Commissary of Subsistence on
January 14th, reporting to Gen?l H. A. Wise, and
taking rank retroactively to August 7th, 1861. On
February 27th Thomas was ordered to report to Lt.
R
The Quartermaster Column No. 35
by Michael McNeil
This unusually late May 1864 issue reads: ?Paid out at
Shreveport La/ on the 26th day of/ May 1864 by/ Wm H
Thomas/ Maj & C. S.? Image: Jim Fitzgerald
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
150
Gen?l E. Kirby Smith in the Trans-Mississippi
Department. Returns of May and July at Knoxville
show Thomas as Chief of the Commissary
Department in East Tennessee.
1863 Thomas appears on a list of the
officers and agents of the Subsistence Department in
the Department of the Trans-Mississippi dated
September 29th at Shreveport, Louisiana. The report
noted that he was bonded. A report dated in May
listed Thomas as ?Chief of Subsistence.?
A letter from Thomas to Gen?l W. R. Scurry
in Houston, Texas, on May 24th yields some insight
into the operations of the Subsistence Department:
...My latest advices from Northern Texas
is that the wheat crop will be harvested and saved.
Under the latest law of Congress regulating
impressments, I do not anticipate much trouble
from speculators purchasing the crop if the
officers stationed in the wheat growing region
will do their duty.
...I have proposed to take all that section
of country which includes the towns of Jefferson,
Marshall, Tyler, Dallas, Bonham, under my
immediate control, and have given the officers
such instruction as will I think secure all the
surplus.
...It is designed by me to make all of the
entire purchases made in this section for the
troops under the command of Gen?l Holmes and
Gen?l Taylor. Any surpluses that can be spared, to
be shipped to the other side of the Mississippi
River, where an opportunity offers to cross it [the
river was mostly under the control of Union
forces, and Vicksburg would fall on July 4th,
completing Union control of the river].
...The large number of people who are
seeking contracts to deliver beef would soon
excite the market and put the prices up to a very
extravagant figure. As yet I have had no
difficulty....
Thomas responded to a circular dated
September 22nd requesting information on
appointments and bonding. Thomas stated that his
latest bond was secured in Richmond in the amount
of $30,000.00, a considerable amount of money at
that time.
1864 A report dated September noted that
Thomas was ?Chief of Subsistence? for the Trans-
Mississippi Department.
1865 A list of officers in the Trans-
Mississippi Department noted on January 28th that
Thomas? bond had been reported to the War
Department and accepted. To give the readers some
sense of the scale of Thomas? operations, we find a
Treasury warrant dated March 14th payable to
Thomas for $800,000 for subsistence stores.
Confederate currency had inflated at this time to a
point where in April of 1865 a Confederate dollar
would buy only three cents in gold. But we must also
realize that gold was then denominated at $20 per
ounce, while it sells for about $2,000 per ounce
today. In today?s money, this Treasury warrant was
worth $2,400,000. And yes, for those who want to do
the math, Confederate currency in April 1865 had
three times the buying power our currency has today.
On April 9th Gen?l Robert E. Lee surrendered
to Union forces, hastening the end of the
Confederacy. In the Trans-Mississippi Department,
however, the end of the war would come later, and
we find evidence of this in a May 10th Treasury
Warrant for $40,000 made payable by the Depositary
at Shreveport to Thomas for subsistence stores.
Thomas was paroled at Shreveport,
Louisiana on June 8th, and he signed an oath of
allegiance to the Union on July 14th. William H.
Thomas? career as a Confederate officer spanned the
time from April 1st, 1861 to June 8th, 1865, which
was virtually the entire war.
Postscript An obituary provided some detail
of Thomas? life after the Civil War.2 Thomas was
stationed in Lexington, Kentucky while under the
command of Gen?l Bragg. After the war he returned
to Washington, D. C., but later established himself as
a whisky distiller in Lexington, Kentucky in 1867,
?...where he remained for several years before
coming to Louisville and engaging in the wholesale
whisky trade. His business mainly was to purchase
fine whiskies in large lots and sell them again to
wholesale dealers. He once had the largest whisky
house on [105 West] Main Street. At one time he was
rated as being worth at least $1,000,000 [gold was
still denominated at $20 per ounce at this time,
making Thomas worth $100,000,000 in today?s
dollars]. ...Major Thomas for the past twelve years
was known more for his social qualities than for his
business propensities. ...A few years later [after 1893]
the Whisky Trust was formed, which of itself was
detrimental to many of the independent dealers. Maj.
Thomas sold off his straight whisky as he could, but
the tide seemed against him, and two years ago his
business was placed in the hands of a receiver....
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
151
?...He loved to talk of the war.... He was a
stickler for the name whisky to be applied only to the
fine straight product.?2
William H. Thomas died at the age of 83 on
October 5th, 1908, and was buried at Cave Hill
Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.1 The author?s
great-great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Pelot, who
signed a half million Confederate Treasury notes, is
buried in the same cemetery.
Carpe diem
References: All military data was derived from National Archives documents on Fold3.com.
1. Ancestry.com, accessed 22 November 2023. Researched by Charles Derby.
2. The Courier-Journal, 7 October 1908, Louisville, Kentucky. Researched by Charles Derby.
105 West Main Street, Louisville, KY. Built in 1877, this
building, designed by Henry Whitestone, originally
housed W. H. Thomas and Son, a wholesale whisky
dealership, until 1895.
Image: kadwebsite.wixsite.com/whiskey-row/more-history
W. H. Thomas Son, 1893 vintage
Image: BourbonEnthusiast.com
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2024 * Whole No. 350
152
OUR MEMBERS SPECIALIZE IN
LARGE SIZE TYPE NOTES
They also specialize in National Currency, Small Size Currency,
Obsolete Currency, Colonial and Continental Currency, Fractionals,
Error Notes, MPCs, Confederate Currency, Encased Postage,
Stocks and Bonds, Autographs and Documents, World Paper Money . . .
and numerous other areas.
THE PROFESSIONAL CURRENCY DEALERS ASSOCIATION
is the leading organization of Dealers in Currency,
Stocks and Bonds, Fiscal Documents and related paper items.
PCDA
To be assured of knowledgeable, professional, and ethical dealings
when buying or selling currency, look for dealers who
proudly display the PCDA emblem.
For further information, please contact:
The Professional Currency Dealers Association
PCDA
? Holds its annual National Currency Convention in conjunction with the Central States Numis-
matic Society?s Anniversary Convention. Please visit our Web Site pcda.com for dates and location.
? Encourages public awareness and education regarding the hobby of Paper Money Collecting.
? Sponsors the John Hickman National Currency Exhibit Award each year, as well as Paper Money
classes and scholarships at the A.N.A.?s Summer Seminar series.
? Publishes several ?How to Collect? booklets regarding currency and related paper items. Availability
of these booklets can be found on our Web Site.
? Is a proud supporter of the Society of Paper Money Collectors.
Or Visit Our Web Site At: www.pcda.com
Susan Bremer ? Secretary
16 Regents Park ? Bedford, TX 76022
(214) 409-1830 ? email: susanb@ha.com
DALLAS | NEW YORK | BEVERLY HILLS | CHICAGO | PALM BEACH
LONDON | PARIS | GENEVA | BRUSSELS | AMSTERDAM | HONG KONG
Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 50+ Categories
Immediate Cash Advances Available
1.75 Million+ Online Bidder-Members
Thailand
Government of Siam 10 Baht
1.7.1926 Pick Unlisted Front Printer?s Model
PMG Choice Uncirculated 63
Sold for $75,000
Hong Kong
Mercantile Bank of India, Ltd. 50 Dollars
1.7.1935 Pick 240a
PMG Choice Very Fine 35 Net
Sold for $19,200
Macau
Banco Nacional Ultramarino 25 Patacas
16.11.1945 Pick 31 KNB37a
PMG Choice Very Fine 35
Sold for $13,200
China
Federal Reserve Bank of China 10 Dollars
1938 Pick J57a S/M#C286-15
PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ
Sold for $44,400
Palestine
Palestine Currency Board 10 Pounds
30.9.1929 Pick 9b
PMG About Uncirculated 55
Sold for $16,800
Mongolia
State Treasury Note 5 Dollars
1924 Pick 4r Remainder
PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ
Sold for $11,400
Paul R. Minshull #16591. BP 20%; see HA.com. 74549
WORLD PAPER MONEY SIGNATURE? AUCTION
HKINF - Hong Kong | June 18
Now Accepting Consignments to Our June Hong Kong Signature? Auction
Consignment Deadline: April 29
Prices Realized in our December Hong Kong Signature? Auction
For a free appraisal, or to consign to an upcoming auction, contact a
Heritage Expert today. 800-872-6467, Ext. 1001 or Currency@HA.com
Tweet